Cinemark Supports Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger

Key Points:

• Cinemark has endorsed the $111 billion merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, joining AMC and Regal as major theater chains supporting the deal, citing the need for a strong theatrical ecosystem with financially sound studios and exhibitors.
• Cinemark favors the merger due to Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison's commitment to increase film releases to at least 30 per year and maintain a minimum 45-day theatrical window, with formal written pledges and consent decrees backing these promises.
• Despite this support, Cinema United, the main exhibition industry lobbying group, remains opposed to the Warner Bros. sale, warning it could reduce film output and lead to theater closures, although they have called for negotiations between Paramount and state attorneys general to protect the industry.
• The endorsement from major exhibitors comes amid a strong summer box office performance, the biggest since before the pandemic, with revenues potentially surpassing $4.7 billion and annual domestic revenues possibly reaching $10 billion for the first time since 2019.
• Paramount faces an antitrust lawsuit from a 12-state coalition blocking the merger, with CEO Ellison threatening to pull Paramount out of California if negotiations do not proceed, while the merger remains on hold pending a 2027 trial.