Judge sets 2027 trial in Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery antitrust fight

An Oakland federal judge on Tuesday scheduled a 12-day trial starting March 2 on the Clayton Act complaint by 12 state attorneys general seeking to block Paramount Skydance Corp.'s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.

U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin's decision is a compromise that is much closer to the states' request for an April 5, 2027, trial date than Paramount Skydance's bid for a Nov. 4, 2026, trial date.

Waiting for trial will cost Paramount Skydance a lot of money, more than $200 million per month starting Oct. 1 according to the terms of its proposed deal with Warner Bros. Discovery. That is more than $1 billion by the time the trial even starts, not counting appeals.

Beth A. Wilkinson, a partner with Wilkinson Stekloff LLP who recently was added to Paramount Skydance's trial team, sought the November trial date and argued that California Attorney General Rob Bonta had previously said he was OK with a January trial date.

She argued the April trial date would cause "substantial prejudice" to her clients.

But Deputy Attorney General Daniel D. Ambar argued that Paramount Skydance's proposed schedule is much too quick. "It moves this case to trial more rapidly than virtually every merger case in recent history," he and the other state attorneys wrote.

Martinez-Olguin, an appointee of President Joe Biden, set an initial case management conference for Aug. 19.

The acquisition would combine the two largest film studios in Hollywood while also putting CNN and other cable networks under the control of Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, whose father, Larry Ellison, is the co-founder of Oracle Corp.

The Ellisons are allies of President Donald Trump, whose Justice Department approved the acquisition, as did the European Commission. But 12 Democratic states balked at the deal, filing an antitrust complaint to block it. State of California et al. v. Paramount Skydance Corp. et al., 26-cv-07116 (N.D. Cal., filed July 13, 2026).

After Martinez-Olguin's trial date decision, Paramount Skydance vowed to continue to defend the deal.

"We respect the court's decision and continue to believe a trial on the merits is the best and most direct way for us to prove what we've said from the start -- this transaction is lawful, pro-competitive, and raises no antitrust concerns," the company said in a statement.

The California state attorney general's office said it "looks forward to continuing to argue our case and blocking this unlawful merger."

Martinez-Olguin issued a temporary restraining order last month halting the acquisition and it's currently on hold, where it will apparently remain until March at the earliest.

The states' case will be tried at the same time as a related complaint filed by the Writers Guild of America.