Adam Aron, CEO of AMC Theaters, has endorsed the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger, arguing that it could save the film industry.
In a lengthy op-ed for Variety, Aron said that the industry’s theatrical distribution has seen a “comeback” in the past few years as moviegoers return to cinema post-coronavirus. While he credits this with his company’s hardwork in distinguishing itself as a comfortable place for the moviegoing, he ultimately admitted the effort would be futile if not for the work of studios producing great movies.
“The proposed Paramount-Warner Bros Discovery merger is poised to create a powerful combined company, one that will have the scale and the passion to deliver even more such films to theater screens the world over. It’s a move that is feared by some, but in our strongly held view, this instead is a step forward that should be welcomed and celebrated,” he wrote.
“It’s critical to the industry’s future that this transaction be completed as soon as possible, so that we all can build on the momentum that finally — after six tough years — only recently has been established,” he adde .”For that to happen, though, the legal challenge from a group of possibly well-intentioned state Attorneys General must be overcome.”
Aron’s argument hinged at great movies stemming from studios in competition, which he said would be impaired if “companies like Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery are forced to struggle along as subscale competitors, which is exactly what will happen in our view if their merger is blocked.”
Aron’s op-ed comes just one day after Ari Emanuel, executive chairman of William Morris Endeavor (WME), endorsed the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal in which he said that the current antitrust lawsuits filed by state attorneys general miss the mark.
“When government officials manipulate markets to reach political outcomes, antitrust stops protecting competition and starts threatening it,” Emanuel wrote. “The attorneys general should drop this case and get back to enforcing the laws as they are written. Let Hollywood creatives get back to trying to rip each other’s heads off at the box office, in streaming, online and everywhere else we compete. It’s what we’re best at.”
As Breitbart News reported this week, Paramount has paused the merger until it resolves all pending lawsuits following a judge’s restraining order last week.
“On Monday, a federal judge suggested that the $81 billion merger be temporarily halted for at least two weeks as activist lawsuits continue to plague the deal,” said the report. “Now, Paramount has agreed to put the deal on ice until at least June 1, 2027, or until the lawsuits are concluded.”
“The biggest issue is the lawsuit spearheaded by California’s Democrat Attorney General Rob Bonta, who is leading a 12-state coalition in a lawsuit aimed at squashing the proposed merger,” it added. “Other states in the filing include Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Washington.”