Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer voiced support for the stalled Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger, which is headed to an antitrust trial to begin in March 2027.
While Lionsgate competes with Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. in some areas, including theatrically released movies, Lionsgate also sees both as customers (or potential customers) in other areas. Ultimately, having the Paramount-WBD close as soon as possible is the ideal outcome, according to Feltheimer, speaking on Lionsgate’s quarterly earnings call Thursday.
“Uncertainty is the worst thing for our business, and uncertainty and delay is not good for anybody,” Feltheimer said. “We know David Ellison well. We did his first series, ‘Manhattan,’ some years ago. I can tell you that I was super impressed with him. He loves content.”
The Lionsgate chief continued, “I have no reason not to believe that he will be investing very heavily in content, whether it’s a 30-film slate or whether it’s at a bolstered Paramount+, I would say for us… a better-financed streamer, a competitive streamer, will be better for us, better for us in terms of original programming, better for us in terms of selling library. And so that part of it, I think, is a real positive for us.”
Feltheimer noted that Lionsgate has “already sold [Paramount] a new television show,” without providing details.
“We hadn’t been doing that much with Paramount. We hadn’t been doing that much with HBO,” he said. “So I’m already seeing signs of it. I’m already talking to them about potentially co-financing feature films. That would be good for us, and that would be good for the industry. And I would say, overall, the more movies that are in the marketplace, while it’s competitive, it’s good as the rising tide moves all boats up. And so I guess I would say I’m in favor of this transaction, but most importantly, I’m in favor of certainty and getting all of the delay out of it.”
