Judge holds the sale of Warner

It wasn’t this time. On Thursday, the 24th, federal judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín heard Paramount and the states in a Zoom hearing and left without signing the agreement that releases the sale of Warner. He also didn’t say when he would decide. And so the home of DC, Batman and the Snyder Cut continues to wait for its new owner.

For those who have just arrived: Paramount Skydance, owned by David Ellison, signed the purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery in February, for around 111 billion dollars. In July, California and 11 other states went to court to block it, and on Monday, the 21st, the two sides filed an agreement to end the fight. The channel read the 32 pages and the video came out on Wednesday, the 23rd.

What’s on the paper? At least 30 films per year in American cinemas in the first two years and 32 in the following three, with a fine of 30 million dollars for each missing film. One in every five has to be a big film, $50 million or more and in 3,000 theaters or more. Each one stays in the cinema for 45 days and only reaches subscription streaming after 90 days. And the Burbank studio, where Snyder presented a screening of Excalibur in August, cannot be sold or closed until the end of 2031.

Per yearThe windowSafeguards

Minimum US theatrical releases

Year 1 2027, if the deal closes in 2026

12345

Tap or click a bar to see the details.

1. Theatrical releases 30 32 30
2. Wide releases (2,000+ screens) 20 21 20
3. Independent films 4 4

Document: settlement filed in US federal court, p. 5

30 films in the first two years, 32 in the next three

That's the floor: the new company has to release at least this many films in US theaters every year, and at least half must be its own productions or co-productions. Re-releases, anniversary editions or repackaged old films don't count.

Source: Settlement, sections III.A.1 and III.A.11, p. 5 and 8 09/21/2026

Years count from the closing of the deal. The calendar years shown are the example the settlement itself gives.

Source: Settlement between 12 states and Paramount/Warner Bros. Discovery (case 4:26-cv-07116, document 244) 09/21/2026 / Checked on 09/24/2026

But all of this depends on her signature. On Tuesday, the 22nd, the judge had already announced that she had questions, and opened the hearing like this.

The court isn’t a rubber stamp of your agreement… I have some questions.

Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín, at the hearing on 24/09/2026, according to Variety

She wanted to make sure the deal came from a real negotiation, without collusion, and California and Paramount made sure it was. Then homework was done: both sides have until Monday, the 28th, at 4pm Brasília, to respond to a letter from senator Cory Booker, who asks for an independent review before any signature. And in the early hours of Friday, the Block the Merger coalition, of press and independent film groups, and LULAC, an organization of Latinos in the USA, filed opinions asking for the agreement to be rejected.

And the clock is ticking. Ellison was talking about closing the purchase in a couple of weeks, but from October 1st, Paramount will pay Warner about 7 million dollars a day until it closes.

And for SnyderVerse? In our reading, waiting does not change what is on paper. Snyder is a director of the big screen, of IMAX, of films made for the dark room. The deal does not bring him back alone, and his return to Paramount remains a rumor. But, if the judge signs it, the type of cinema he makes will be guaranteed a place until 2031.

The video has the rest: who’s who at the new Warner, what changes for Gunn’s DC, and our unfiltered take.