UPDATE 2: The productions the guilds flagged now have a cause our sources can name. Per our insiders, deals and productions are frozen right now because of Paramount’s move out of California, which they say is happening, with Tennessee the final destination.
UPDATE: The legal pressure has increased, as Paramount is demanding a $1.88 billion bond from the states and WGA to cover the cost of delaying the Warner Bros. merger. Our insiders now say the Nolan connection is no coincidence. Per our sources, Zack Snyder’s The Dark Knight Returns is ready to go, built for IMAX, and waiting on the other side of this lawsuit.
Hollywood’s directors and production crews are now telling California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Paramount boss David Ellison the same thing: settle the Warner Bros. merger fight and get people back to work.
The Directors Guild of America (DGA) and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) sent a joint letter Wednesday urging both sides to reach a deal rather than let the lawsuit drag into 2027.
Together, the two unions represent nearly 200,000 film and television workers. That’s a huge chunk of the people who actually make movies and shows, and they’re warning that the legal fight is already costing jobs.
Directors And Crews Say The Lawsuit Is Hurting Jobs
The letter is signed by DGA national executive director Russell Hollander and IATSE international president Matthew Loeb.
It’s also worth noting who leads the DGA.
Christopher Nolan is the guild’s elected president, fresh off The Odyssey becoming the biggest movie of his career. The directors’ union he leads is now asking both sides to stop the standoff.
The unions say the uncertainty surrounding the merger is making an already weak production market even worse, especially with the case currently headed toward a March 2027 trial.
They say they know of productions that have been “put on hold or canceled altogether” because companies don’t know what the future looks like.
That lines up exactly with what our insiders told us a month ago: chaos, projects being frozen, decisions being delayed, and the uncertainty spreading across Warner Bros.
The unions want Bonta and Ellison to settle the case with binding conditions that can actually be enforced (more on that below). If that doesn’t happen, they’re asking for the trial to be moved up so Hollywood isn’t left hanging for another seven months.
The Unions Even Laid Out Their Own Deal
This wasn’t just a letter saying, “Please work it out.” The unions included nine conditions they want attached to any settlement.
- Paramount and Warner Bros. would remain separate studios, each with its own production, distribution, and marketing teams.
- Each studio would release at least 15 movies a year in theaters, matching the 30 combined releases Ellison has already promised.
- Movies would stay in theaters for at least 45 days, preferably 60, with a 120-day hold before streaming.
- HBO would remain a traditional TV channel available through outside providers.
- The company would commit to minimum levels of production in the United States.
And one condition stands out in particular: Paramount would have to stay headquartered in Los Angeles.
That is a direct response to Ellison’s October 1 deadline to settle or leave California, which surfaced three days ago. The NY Post’s Charles Gasparino has also said Ellison is considering leaving New York.
Bonta’s “Protect Hollywood Workers” Argument Just Got Complicated
One of the groups backing the lawsuit is the WGA, which represents Hollywood writers.
Now the directors and production crews — representing far more workers combined — are publicly asking for a settlement instead.
In his op-ed two days ago, Bonta said he was fighting for filmmakers, writers, creatives, and production crews.
Two of those groups are now telling him they would rather see the case settled with protections than dragged through court.
We’ve already seen the same split on the theater side. Cinema United supports the lawsuit, while AMC and Regal have signed contracts with Paramount.
(Update, August 18: That split has since closed in Paramount’s favor. Cinemark has joined AMC and Regal in backing the merger, and Cinema United is now asking Bonta and Ellison to meet — with four conditions that look a lot like the ones in this letter.)
(Update, August 20: City Hall has joined in as well. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called for a swift and urgent resolution to the dispute, and one of her stated priorities is keeping Paramount in Los Angeles, the same condition the DGA and IATSE put in this letter.)
(Update, August 22: The talks the guilds asked for are set. Paramount and the state AGs meet Monday, August 24. Bonta then canceled it over leaks, and the states’ reported asks included keeping Paramount and Warner Bros. as two separate studios.)
The bigger picture is becoming harder to ignore: the groups claiming to speak for all of Hollywood are not speaking with one voice.
This Could Give Bonta A Way To Settle
Bonta has repeatedly said he doesn’t want promises that can be broken later. He wants changes built into the structure of the deal itself.
Paramount has resisted selling off major pieces, although new reports suggest Ellison may be willing to part with CNN. At the same time, reports also say selling CNN is not on the table.
That’s why the unions’ first condition matters so much.
Keeping Paramount and Warner Bros. operating as separate studios, with separate production, distribution, and marketing operations, goes much further than a vague promise to keep making movies.
It gives Bonta something concrete he could point to and say he forced meaningful protections into the merger.
There is still an obvious question: if both studios ultimately answer to the same owner, are they really competing with each other?
That’s a fair concern. But this is now the clearest written path toward a settlement that has come from anyone outside Paramount itself.
