If Hollywood studios flee LA, a disaster movie – Latest News
Could Paramount’s David Ellison back up a super-sized U-Haul truck and take two historic studios out of California?
Paramount’s CEO, plotting to buy Warner Bros. Discovery for $110 billion, says he’ll take his mega-studio elsewhere if California Attorney General Rob Bonta doesn’t begin merger settlement talks by Oct. 1, stories say.
That might imply Warner Bros. exits the Golden State, too. Ellison is trying to buy the long-lasting studio by way of the nation’s highest-profile merger in years.
Where would they go? Team Ellison suggests Texas, Nashville, Georgia or an unnamed state could possibly be the studio’s new home.
Chairman and CEO of Paramount David Ellison attends the UFC 324 occasion at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday, January 24, 2026, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Zuffa LLC) Zuffa LLC
The Paramount board reportedly accepted an exit strategy ought to the 2 sides keep far aside on settlement talks. That consists of a five-year plan to maneuver a lot of the studio out of state underneath this situation.
Ellison could also be going “all in” on the highest-stakes poker recreation in California, or that is a bluff for the ages.
Either approach, the newest revelations mark a dramatic escalation in a battle that already has the nation’s undivided consideration, to not point out La La Land’s.
We already know the place Hollywood, Inc. stands on the deal. A-list stars like Benedict Cumberbatch, Ben Stiller, Emma Thompson, Glenn Close, Javier Bardem, Kristen Stewart and more have publicly spoken out in opposition to the merger.
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They worry the consolidation will imply fewer films and, by default, job losses throughout the board for his or her colleagues. The stars weren’t practically as vocal when Netflix practically sealed the deal on a Warner Bros. Discovery merger of its own.
The numbers behind the deal are staggering. Consider the $7 billion “breakup fee” if the merger doesn’t get performed earlier than June of 2027. Or the $500 million a 12 months Paramount might save in taxes by bailing on California.
That might fund dozens of Paramount+ streaming originals.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta holds a press convention subsequent to the Hollywood check in Los Angeles, California, on Monday, July 13, 2026. Bonta introduced that California will sue to dam Paramount’s $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. (Daniel Cole) REUTERS
That’s solely a pattern of the maths in movement, and for an industry grappling with streaming churn, legacy franchise failures and the risk of AI, each greenback counts.
The merger’s cultural angle can’t be ignored, and it’d clarify the vitriol in opposition to parts of the deal. Some worry the Ellisons and their Trump ties might tilt chronically liberal Hollywood to the fitting.
Would CNN’s left-leaning information model survive an Ellison makeover? Might Bari Weiss, the groundbreaking information disruptor, do to CNN what she’s trying to convey to CBS’ “60 Minutes,” as some worry? The merger ramifications increase past hard-news protection.
Ellison’s Paramount craves more films like “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Twisters,” tales with uncooked Heartland appeal. Paramount lately greenlit a “Days of Thunder” sequel more than 35 years after the NASCAR-based movie’s debut.
That might imply a dampened urge for food for movies like 2025’s “One Battle After Another,” the Best Picture winner that glorified anti-government radicals.
The timing couldn’t be worse for California. Film and TV productions are already struggling within the present financial climate, bloodied by what they deem inadequate tax incentives, allowing forms, the high price of dwelling and competitors from different states.
An aerial view of the Paramount emblem on the water tower at Paramount Studios on Monday, December 8, 2025, in Los Angeles, California. Entertainment giant Paramount, now renamed Paramount Skydance, is trying a hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery price $108.4 billion. (Getty Images North America) Getty Images
“Landman” creator Taylor Sheridan opened the biggest movie studio in Fort Worth, Texas, final 12 months.
Texas presents “the space to dream big, the freedom to build fast, and a community that still believes storytelling matters,” Sheridan mentioned on the time.
Does that sound like California in 2026?
The Tennessean known as Nashville’s rising TV and movie productions akin to “Y’allywood,” powered by superstars like Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon. And Superstar Mark Wahlberg is plotting a Las Vegas-based movie studio.
Hollywood has been synonymous with California for the reason that Nestor Film Company established the first movie studio within the area. Local lawmakers on either side of the aisle have been preventing to keep it that approach, with combined outcomes, to be form.
Losing one or each main studios can be nothing much less than a Hollywood disaster movie come to life.
Christian Toto is the founder of Hollywood in Toto and host of The Hollywood in Toto Podcast.
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