Movie theater owners have become divided over the proposed $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount, threatening the unity of the exhibition industry's main lobbying organization. Cinema United, the trade group, has opposed any potential sale, with president Michael O'Leary warning that a merger could lead to fewer films and theater closures. However, the two largest theater chains, AMC Theatres and Regal Cinemas, have thrown their support behind the deal.
AMC CEO Adam Aron has backed the merger since April, arguing a combined company would strengthen theatrical business. Regal CEO Eduardo Acuna warned last week that delaying the deal might create damaging uncertainty for the industry. The two executives support the merger in part because Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison has pledged the joint studio will release at least 30 films annually, compared with 16-20 from Disney and Universal. Shortly after Acuna's statement, Bloomberg reported that Ellison offered AMC and Regal a three-year agreement guaranteeing exclusive 45-day theatrical windows.
O'Leary wrote to endorse litigation to delay the merger, asserting that promises of support for theatrical are "unenforceable." His statement came the same day Aron published an op-ed defending the deal. Industry insiders said Cinema United's leadership was blindsided by Aron's support at CinemaCon in April, though members saw his contradictory positions as consistent with his past divergences from the group.
O'Leary and others in Hollywood remain skeptical of Ellison's film-release pledge, pointing to the combined company's substantial $80 billion debt load and plans to cut $6 billion in duplicative efforts. Cinema operators have not yet recovered from the 2019 Disney-Fox merger, which resulted in fewer new releases. Smaller exhibitors worry that the internal fracture could jeopardize their future bargaining power, with more than 90 percent of Cinema United members operating fewer than 75 screens.
Cinemark, the third-largest U.S. chain, has not officially endorsed the merger. A state attorneys general antitrust lawsuit filed last month seeks to block the deal.
