Regal Cinemas CEO Eduardo Acuna has added his name to the list of entertainment execs expressing their support for Paramount Skydance’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery as the company prepares to go to court next spring against a dozen state attorneys general seeking to block the merger.
“I’ve spoken directly with Skydance Paramount CEO David Ellison and his team about what a combined company would mean for exhibition, and he has made some specific commitments: at least 30 theatrical films a year, a protected theatrical window with 45 days for TVOD and 90 days for SVOD for a minimum of three years, and a $30 billion annual investment in media content,” Acuna said in a statement.
“I believe David is sincere in making these commitments, and he has offered to execute a consent decree to the State AGs to that effect. These are tangible and important commitments that will benefit the industry and which can be measured,” he added.
Acuna’s statement comes as Paramount Skydance is working to gather public support from major entertainment execs in the face of growing opposition from unions, actors, trade orgs and nonprofits including the Writers Guild of America, which has filed its own lawsuit against Paramount.
It also strikes a blow against the movie theater industry’s once-unified front against the merger led by exhibition trade org Cinema United, whose President/CEO Michael O’Leary has repeatedly voiced his opposition to any acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery and has expressed support for the AGs lawsuit filed by California Attorney General Rob Bonta last month.
TheWrap has reached out to Cinema United for comment.
“Further concentrating marketplace power in the hands of a smaller group of distributors that dictate the terms, windows, scheduling, screen-placement of movies, and access to historic film catalogs will have a real and lasting impact on Main Street and millions of movie fans around the world,” O’Leary said at CinemaCon back in April.
The first exhibitor voice of dissent came from AMC CEO Adam Aron, who told TheWrap at CinemaCon that he trusted Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison to honor his promise to release 30 films per year after the Warner Bros. merger was completed.
“I believe what David Ellison is saying. I am rooting for his success,” Aron said. “I’m not even going to say ‘if’ he succeeds. I’m going to say ‘as’ he succeeds that AMC will benefit as he proves that he and his team can release the 30 movies from Warner and Paramount that he says they will make.”
In the months that followed, several theatrical sources told TheWrap that Aron’s comments had been met with great frustration among exhibitors and that support for Cinema United’s outspoken opposition to the merger was widespread among its member chains and independent cinemas.
But in his statement on Wednesday, Acuna expressed concern that with the trial between Paramount Skydance and the attorneys general set for March 2027, a lengthy legal battle would risk harming the momentum that the box office has enjoyed over the past five months, with the domestic box office reaching $6 billion in annual grosses at the fastest pace since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“A long fight in court that extends into spring or summer doesn’t put more films in theaters, and is not beneficial to studios, filmmakers, the guests who go to the movies, or theater businesses like Regal and the people who work for them. It just creates more uncertainty and distraction that could be damaging to our industry as we build on our current success,” he wrote.
Acuna called on Paramount Skydance, the AGs and all stakeholders to negotiate how to “formalize” the studio’s commitment to increased theatrical output. Such calls come days after The Wall Street Journal reported that California Gov. Gavin Newsom had reached out to Bonta urging him to reach a settlement with Paramount out of concern that a blocked merger would damage state employment.
“With these measures in place, we believe that Paramount can be an effective steward of these studios that mean an enormous amount to people who love movies,” Acuna wrote.
Regal’s support leaves Cinemark as the only nationwide theater chain in the United States to not formally support the Paramount-Warner merger, though CEO Sean Gamble expressed optimism about the deal at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference this past March.
“Anything that leads to sustained or increased levels of investment in the number and scale of releases theatrically, that continue to have a robust theatrical window and comprehensive marketing campaigns is viewed as a positive for the industry. I think we’re hearing all the right things,” Gamble said.
But support from the major chains may not be matched by regional theater chains or independent theaters. Art House Convergence, a nonprofit organization that advocates on behalf of independent cinemas and has more than 2,000 member cinemas, has been a part of the grassroots Block the Merger coalition, which had made gathering grassroots support in the entertainment industry for a state AG-led challenge to the merger its core mission.
The full statement, which was first published by Deadline, can be read below:
“This year has been an important one for our industry. Attendance is up, younger audiences are coming out in numbers we haven’t seen in years, and the upcoming release schedule looks just as strong. While there is real momentum, we need a thriving studio system to ensure that the industry has a platform from which to grow.
“This is why, after much consideration, we believe it’s time for Paramount Skydance’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery to move forward. I’ve spoken directly with Skydance Paramount CEO David Ellison and his team about what a combined company would mean for exhibition, and he has made some specific commitments: at least 30 theatrical films a year, a protected theatrical window with 45 days for TVOD and 90 days for SVOD for a minimum of three years, and a $30 billion annual investment in media content. I believe David is sincere in making these commitments, and he has offered to execute a consent decree to the State AGs to that effect. These are tangible and important commitments that will benefit the industry and which can be measured.
“A long fight in court that extends into spring or summer doesn’t put more films in theaters, and is not beneficial to studios, filmmakers, the guests who go to the movies, or theater businesses like Regal and the people who work for them. It just creates more uncertainty and distraction that could be damaging to our industry as we build on our current success. It is time for all parties to sit down and work out how to formalize these commitments. With these measures in place, we believe that Paramount can be an effective steward of these studios that mean an enormous amount to people who love movies.”