Michael O'Leary_Credit Amy Graves-NATO

Source: Amy Graves / Cinema United

Michael O’Leary

Michael O’Leary, the president and CEO of exhibitors lobby group Cinema United, has repeated consolidation concerns in the wake of the pending $111bn Warner Bros Discovery (WBD)-Paramount merger, saying on Friday: “We continue to urge regulators to heed the lessons of the past.”

Screen understands that Cinema United staff will continue to discuss the matter with Department of Justice (DoJ) officials and members of Congress in Washington DC, as well as state attorneys general.

“We have been clear from the outset about our concerns around consolidation, and nothing that has occurred within the past 36 hours has changed that,” O’Leary said in a statement. “Studio consolidation historically leads to fewer movies being made, and at this juncture, there is no reason to believe the outcome here will be any different. We continue to urge regulators to heed the lessons of the past.”

The statement offers the same sentiment as one issued by Cinema United earlier in the month around the time of a hearing of the sub-committee on antitrust, competition policy & consumer rights when Netflix was the frontrunner to close a deal and co-CEO Ted Sarandos was grilled by senators.

At that time Cinema United said, “A combination of Paramount and Warner Bros., for instance, would consolidate as much as 40% of each year’s domestic box office in the hands of single dominant studio.” Paramount CEO David Ellison did not attend the February 3 hearing, and on Thursday Democratic New Jersey Senator Cory Booker called on the mogul to attend a follow-up hearing in front of senators on March 4.

California attorney general California Rob Bonta said in Thursday that a Paramount-WBD agreement was “not a done deal” and vowed to be “vigorous” in its review of the case. The deal is also subject to a DoJ investigation, and will have to satisfy EU regulators.

Ellison has previously claimed that a combined Paramount and Warner Bros will release 30 theatrical films a year. Industry observers question that assumption and there are ongoing concerns about reduced consumer choice in light of Disney’s acquisition of most of the entertainment assets of 21st Century Fox in 2019, which reduced the number of stand-alone Hollywood studios from six to five.

According to information provided by Cinema United, the average number of wide releases before the Disney-Fox merger was 25.6 per year, comprising 10.2m from Disney and 15.4 from Fox. Post-merger, the average has gone down to 12.6, with seven from Disney and 5.6 from what is now known as 20th Century Studios.

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