Settlement talks in the antitrust fight over Paramount’s $110 billion deal are scheduled for Oct. 14–15, according to a court filing Tuesday.
Representatives from Paramount, California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office and the Writers Guild of America will meet for two days under U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Hixson. The talks follow a Friday order that both sides set a late-October conference date.
Bonta, 11 other state attorneys general and the WGA are suing to block the David Ellison-led transaction. An antitrust trial is set for March.
Each side must submit a final attendee list by Oct. 12. Lead trial counsel and negotiators must attend. The WGA and Paramount must send people with full authority to settle—excluding Paramount’s board. Parties are expected to address settlement goals, obstacles and the possibility of a “creative resolution.”
A Bonta spokesperson previously called such conferences “standard course” and said they do not mean a deal is imminent. Both sides have said they are open to settling. Bonta has insisted on structural remedies such as divestitures, not only behavioral pledges like Paramount’s promise to release 30 theatrical films a year.
Talks broke off in August after Bonta accused Paramount of leaking negotiation details. Reporting at the time said he was focused on cable-network divestitures and keeping Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery’s film and TV studios separate. Bonta later said he would consider a carve-out of a “significant” share of the combined company’s roughly 50 basic cable channels.