UPDATE, August 20: Per our insiders, the contracts weren’t the only reason Cinemark switched gears. We’re told there is real excitement inside exhibition about Paramount’s theatrical strategy, and that the chains “got a glimpse into what the audience wants.” Our exclusive on what they saw is here.
Paramount just picked up another theater chain, and the lobby group backing the lawsuit against it now wants both sides in a room.
Per Deadline, Cinemark, the third largest circuit in the country, has come out in support of the $111 billion Warner Bros. Discovery merger.
That puts the top three chains in America on Paramount’s side, since AMC and Regal already signed on.
Why Cinemark Signed On
Cinemark says it will support consolidation that puts more movies in theaters with real marketing and real windows, as long as the promises are backed by firm commitments.
That is the deal David Ellison has been offering: at least 30 movies a year in theaters, 45 days before premium video on demand, 90 days before streaming.
What changed is that Paramount is now willing to put those numbers into written contracts and consent decrees.
Cinemark’s board had been weighing the offer since Paramount handed the same package to AMC and Regal earlier this month.
Cinema United Changes Its Tone, Too
Cinema United, the trade organization for theater owners, has fought this merger from the start.
It just sent a letter to Ellison and California Attorney General Rob Bonta asking them to meet immediately and work out a resolution to California’s challenge.
The signatures matter as much as the letter. Cinemark CEO Sean Gamble signed it. So did Regal CEO Eduardo Acuna, along with the chiefs of Marcus Theatres, Cineplex, Kinepolis, B&B Theatres, Phoenix Theatres, Polson Theatres and CineLux.
Cinema United is not endorsing the merger. It is naming its price.
Similar to Christopher Nolan and the DGA, the group wants any resolution to include four things:
- A long-term commitment to wide theatrical releases with real exclusivity and full marketing
- No rental term increases that push the cost of the deal onto theaters and ticket buyers
- Guaranteed access to films for theaters of every size, without conditions that box in smaller operators
- Continued access to the Paramount and Warner Bros. film libraries
The letter also makes the small-theater case directly. Cinema United counts 196 member theaters operating inside the 12 states suing to block the deal, and most of them are independent or family owned. A total of 130 run fewer than ten screens. Thirty of them run a single screen.
What This Does To Bonta’s Case
The states built this lawsuit on protecting movie theaters.
The three biggest chains in the country now back the merger, and the trade group speaking for everyone else is publicly asking the attorney general to sit down with Ellison.
It lands a day after Paramount asked the court to make the states and the WGA post a $1.88 billion bond, and weeks before October 1, when the $7 million-a-day ticking fee starts and Ellison’s deadline to move Paramount out of California arrives.
The DGA and IATSE already asked Bonta to settle. Now the theater owners have too, and so has Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
(Update: The meeting Cinema United asked for is happening. Settlement talks between Paramount and the state AGs are set for Monday, August 24. Bonta then canceled it, accusing Paramount of leaking.)
Trial is set for March 2027. Bonta is running out of people who want it to get there.
