Paramount‘s pending acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery has evoked a range of emotion in Hollywood, mainly fear among creatives at the planned merger of two more major studios. But now that uncertainty is tinged with panic after CEO David Ellison threatened to relocate his Los Angeles-based company to Tennessee, Texas or Georgia.

Separately, the risks of both companies floating in limbo for the better part of a year as an antitrust suit by 12 state attorneys general wends its way to a March 2027 trial date has started to sink in.

So key guilds, trade groups and exhibitors are now urging Paramount and California Attorney General Rob Bonta to settle, even as many remain opposed to the merger, with a stream of sometimes confusing statements suggesting concessions to make the deal more palatable. But those proposed concessions are “behavioral,” Bonta has said. Promises, even in writing, aren’t the “structural” remedies, like asset sales, needed to preserve competition in markets the lawsuit claims are at risk.

“None of the noise from various constituencies makes Bonta’s case any weaker. It may pressure him to come to the table, but not to settle unless he feels that the competition in the market today will remain there afterwards,” said attorney Abiel Garcia, who began his career at the California DOJ as a deputy AG. He thinks the antitrust case is solid, “Not an easy win, but a good case. Ellison can’t do anything now except get Bonta to the table.”

Paramount had requested a November trial; the AGs asked for April. The judge set a March 2 start. “I think they [AGs] were looking at this in terms of what do we need to make sure our case is built as soundly as it can be,” said Garcia. “But the date had unintended consequences — the industry stepping in to say we can’t wait that long.”

Though both sides have agreed to the court-required mediation process, there are no formal settlement talks underway.

Roving eye

Speculation about a move to Nashville, where Ellison used to own a home, emerged earlier this summer and in August after he told Paramount’s leadership team that he would start the process of exiting California on October 1 absent settlement talks. Office headquarters could go first, followed by a slower move of studio staff and executives. The historic Melrose lot would likely be sold.

The date is timed to the October 1 trigger of a so-called ticking fee Paramount agreed to in the WBD deal – an onerous per-share payout that comes to about $7 million a day, or $650 million a quarter, until the deal closes. If the merger collapses altogether, Paramount would instead be on the hook for a $7 billion termination fee to WBD. The David Zaslav-led company has a contractual right to walk away as of June 4, 2027.

Bonta has called the threat to relocate “blackmail.” The Paramount camp denies that, insisting they’d prefer, of course, to stay in California but could save a boatload of money elsewhere, and that they don’t feel supported by their home state.

Taking him at his word, Nashville is a global music hub where Oracle, run by David Ellison‘s father Larry Ellison, has announced plans to expand. It’s building a massive campus for a world headquarters in the city’s East Bank area near the Cumberland River, a major area of new development.

Sony and other music labels and publishers large and small, adjacent business and countless musicians and artists have a large presence in there, as do agencies, and Paramount’s CMT (Country Music Television).

Tennesse’s core film and TV production incentive is a 25% rebate on eligible expenses in the state, with uplifts possible, on a minimum spend of $500,000.

“We aren’t big on red tape or fine print; there’s no per project cap, and this is not a first-come, first-served program,” says the website of the Tennessee Entertainment Commission. The state has no individual income tax on wages or salaries.

Projects shot there include films The Green Mike, Walk the Line, Hustle & Flow, Hannah Montana: The Movie, Robert Altman’s Nashville and the popular ABC/CMT drama of the same name starring the late Hayden Pannettiere. Also shooting there is 9-1-1 Nashville and the Prime Video series Scarpetta starring Nicole Kidman, where Nashville stands in for Alexandria, VA.

Asked for comment, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development said only: “Paramount is a globally recognized company and well-respected brand. While we cannot comment on specifics, TNECD remains committed to working with companies across a wide range of industries that are exploring opportunities to invest and grow in Tennessee.”

In July, when the state first came up as a potential new home for Par, Gov. Bill Lee jumped in on X, saying: “Tennessee is a place where innovation & creativity thrive. Paramount has played an important role in shaping American culture, & we’d welcome the opportunity to see the next chapter of that story unfold in the Volunteer State.”

Georgia and Texas are both better known filming destinations. The Peach State in particular has supercharged its incentives, infrastructure and crew base dramatically over the past decade to rival California and New York as a major U.S. hub.

Georgia’s Department of Economic Development was mum on a Paramount move. “We don’t comment on speculation or private correspondence. However, as a major film production hub with long-term relationships with our industry partners, we welcome any such conversations.”

As for Texas, it is fast up-and-coming and has been successful bringing in production. A newly sweetened incentive package just took hold this summer, nudged along by native Matthew McConaughey who was a frequent presence at the State House in Austin during deliberations. Soundstages have been popping up as well, from Taylor Sheridan’s SGS Studios in Fort Worth, the largest in the state, to The Chosen‘s film campus in Midlothian. There is activity in buzzy Austin (home of SXSW), Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.

“Texas offers the best business climate in America,” said Gov. Greg Abbott’s press secretary Andrew Mahaleris in a statement. “The state has no corporate income tax and no personal income tax. Paramount already maintains major production facilities in Texas and has filmed numerous successful productions in Texas over the years. Companies that leave high-tax, high-regulation states like California will find opportunity and success here.”

The New York Post reported that Austin’s Bluebonnet Business Center, a big commercial development, is a possible location. Deadline hears that particular site is not under consideration for the company’s relocation.

“I’ve said this before, and I firmly believe it: the future of film is Texas. We have the space, major city centers, incredible workforce, a pro-business environment, and now the long-term incentive investment created by our state leadership to prove it,” Chase Musslewhite, co-founder of Media For Texas, a nonprofit that’s been front and center in the state’s production push, tells Deadline.

“What’s really exciting is the chance for major industry partners to seize this opportunity too. Texans have always had a strong independent spirit, but we also welcome anyone who wants to invest in our communities and build the future of this industry together. From the perspective of the Texas film community, our doors are wide open.”

Generally speaking, a handful of southern states are considered particularly good places to do business, while California is regularly slammed for high taxes, regulation and cost of living. Nashville, Atlanta, Charlotte and Dallas took the top four spots in trade pub SiteSelection’s 2026 annual survey of leading national site consultants on which cities they favor for corporate headquarters projects.

As it did in 2025, California received the most votes for the Worst Business Climate in America.

A survey by another publication, AreaDevelopment, for 2025 saw Georgia, Texas and Tennessee at No. 1, No. 3 and No. 6 among the top 10 states for doing business.

That said, every industry has unique needs and a crew base is essential to film and TV production. SiteSelection respondents cited a skilled workforce, cost of living, incentives, quality of life and worker training programs the key elements when considering where to move.

Hollywood reacts

The reaction from filmmakers and reps to Paramount’s potential move runs the gamut. After all, production has been fanning out across the country for years as more and more states add or boost incentives. Markets are dotted by new state-of-art studio complexes.

“At its worse, this is yet another example of politics leveraging our business for their own agenda,” said producer Marty Bowen, whose Temple Hill has a deal on the Melrose lot. “Our business is contracting and no longer a competition between studios. It’s a competition for eyeballs and we’re losing to digital media,” the Smile producer warned. “If the state doesn’t allow the merger, then they’ll need to figure out how to hold onto the industry because it’s already shown that is doesn’t need California.

“It’s sad to say but it’s true. Temple Hill has made over 50 movies and only one has been shot in L.A.”

Some producers are fed up with living in Hollywood, with homelessness, crime in the hills and Mayor Karen Bass’ unpopular handling of the horrific 2025 fires. “Just look at the people who voted for Spencer Pratt in the last mayoral run-off — it’s eyebrow-raising,” said one. “A move to Austin or Nashville would be welcome.”

“We’re already making movies outside of Hollywood,” adds another. “Why would this make a difference?” 

Many consider Paramount’s rumblings “a totally empty threat. It was said at a meeting with senior executives? It felt so planted… No one is moving out of Hollywood,” said one Hollywood insider.

A prolific producer in town fears that “the more David pokes the AGs, the harder it gets for him.” 

Bonta, appearing on CNBC Thursday, was asked about the mounting industry pressure to settle. “I don’t care what people think, I care about the law,” he said. “If they really want to engage in structural remedies, keeping different corporate entities separate … we are open to those conversations and happy to have them,” he reiterated

He called the trial date “lightning speed when it comes to litigation. My Meta case took three years to get to court.” A landmark trial against Mark Zuckerberg’s social media giant claiming it deliberately tries to hook young users and lies about it, started Tuesday. It was brought by AGs from California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey.

Asked about Paramount’s threat to leave the state, he said: “I called it blackmail. I still call it blackmail. … They’re saying if you dare enforce the law against us … we will pick up our ball and leave. And they’re trying to say, don’t sue us. Drop this case. Do what we want. Allow us to merge unlawfully. We’re not going do that. We’re never going do that.”

A handful of producers on the Paramount lot say they’d likely keep an office in L.A. should the mountain-top logo studio head out of state. Writers rooms in addition to meet-ups with talent and agents still occur in person in L.A., not to mention it’s common for talent from overseas to make the rounds of the lots; Zoom culture has ebbed post-Covid for many.

“I don’t want to see the studio leave, but I understand that David needs to do what he needs to do, just like I would,” one blockbuster Paramount producer said.  

“Look, we want to keep them here,” Top Gun franchise producer Jerry Bruckheimer told Deadline recently at D23. “It’s unfortunate that it’s got this kind of political circle around it, which is a shame, and hopefully they work it all out: they stay here, and the business gets healthier.”

Bruckheimer has been a vocal supporter of Ellison and Paramount’s pursuit of Warner Bros, noting the CEO’s promise of 30 films annually. He declined to sign a petition against the merger supported by over 3,000 industry insiders.

Asked about that at a CinemaCon panel this past spring, Bruckheimer said, “You can sign all the petitions you want, but [the merger is] already being approved by European countries. It’s happening. So there’s not much we can do about it other than take David at his word that he’s going to make 30 movies [a year], and that would be fantastic.”

Bonta and others have called that 30-movie-a-year promise less than meets the eye, missing specifics and hard to enforce.

The Paramount-WBD deal has, in fact, been approved by the EU, as well the UK, the U.S. Department of Justice and every other international regulatory body. Ellison anticipated the merger would close in the current third quarter. The deal had an air of inevitability until the AGs sued five weeks ago, especially after the federal judge in District Court in Northern California agreed to a temporary restraining order based on the AGs argument around wide-release movies, one of three markets addressed in the suit.

Below-The-Line Workers most at risk

The threat to move Paramount sent shockwaves through the rest of Hollywood, riling up state and local politicians, union leaders and Ellison’s fellow studio executives, who have been campaigning to bring production jobs back to California for years.

DGA and IATSE leadership were among the first to plead with Ellison and Bonta to find a path toward a deal, or, at the very least, move up the trial date.

The truth of the matter is, while Paramount leaving California would be an inconvenience for top talent and executives (who already travel plenty for jobs as production hubs crop up across the world), it would devastate rank-and-file workers, especially below the line, who are responsible for the state’s deep well of production infrastructure and skill. Production is still declining in most of the state, even after the mega-infusion to the Film & TV Tax Credit Program last year, which is also now in jeopardy thanks to a revision to the state tax code that limits corporations’ ability to decrease their tax liability in a given year. Lawmakers have until the end of the legislative session August 31 to find a solution for that.

It makes sense that the DGA and IATSE would be two of the unions to push for a quicker solution, given that many of their members are among those will be most impacted by any outcome. IATSE represents many below-the-line crew, and in addition to directors the DGA represents BTL professionals including assistant directors and unit production managers.

Below-the-line crew are typically hired locally at a higher rate than top actors, directors or even writers. Some territories even require a percentage of the production team to be local hires, and those requirements are often met via the crew.

Insiders at the unions tell Deadline that leadership at the DGA and IATSE still fundamentally oppose the merger, but they fear a prolonged fight will leave any independent version of Warner Bros worse for wear — if there is even an outcome that includes an independent WB at the end of all this — should the March 2027 trial date stand. 

Both studios are still independently operating as the merger fight continues. Paramount alone just secured billions in California tax credits for local productions including the Clueless reboot. However, prolonged uncertainty on the fate of two major film and television studios would undoubtedly play a role in business decisions going forward.

Production sources tell Deadline that leadership across both studios are considering the ongoing battle, and the financial toll it could take, when making decisions not only on production location but also on future development at large.

The WGA is one guild still planted fiercely in the no-deal camp, not surprising since it’s got a parallel lawsuit to block the merger that’s advancing in tandem with the AGs’ case but focused on jobs and industry impact rather than antitrust.

“By threatening to leave the state because it doesn’t want the government to enforce the law, Paramount further proves the danger of its outsized power over the industry and what that will mean for writers and the creative community,” the writers guild told Deadline.

Guilds and others in the industry have called out Ellison for publicly championing Hollywood and local jobs back when Skydance acquired Paramount and after unveiling the WBD merger, only to now talk about decamping entirely.

“My promise to you is to build a stronger Hollywood, by keeping both of these legacy studios operating separately, thereby preserving and potentially increasing jobs,” Ellison wrote in a March letter to California lawmakers Sen. Adam Schiff and Rep. Laura Friedman who had asked him how the merger would impact the state.

“The Los Angeles area provides some of the most talented and well-trained film and television workers in the world, and it is my expectation that the commitments I have made will preserve and expand good-paying film and television jobs in the area,” Ellison wrote.

He wasn’t specific and the combined company’s $6 billion cost saving target plus the large debt load it would carry post-merger has fueled fears of major layoffs.

In a report this week, the L.A. County Department of Economic Opportunity warned that if the deal goes through (and the merged studios stay in L.A.), about 4,500 film and TV jobs in the county could be lost over the three-year period when the companies combine operations.

It sees a potential overall loss of 15,567 corporate roles that overlap across both companies, with 6,099 shared, and 2,495 jobs specifically in Los Angeles County. Plus, it noted the impact on 2,661 indirect jobs at small businesses that support production — prop houses, printers, transportation companies, and other vendors – and 3,204 other less direct jobs at restaurants, retailers and service providers.

Wall Street is one constituency that’s been relatively muted on the drama.

“While the press is focused on Ellison’s threat to move Paramount out of California, we are more interested in the $500+ million question,” wrote Lightshed Partners analyst Rich Greenfield. That’s a number Ellison mentioned to leadership. The total savings over time would likely be much more.

“If relocating a film and TV studio to Texas or Tennessee really saves that much per year,” Greenfield wondered, “why hasn’t every major studio already done it? And if the economics are that compelling, does this merger battle end up being the thing that finally breaks Hollywood’s geographic lock on the entertainment industry?”