Bryan Cranston and Pedro Pascal join 1,400 stars in protesting Paramount-Warner Bros. merger

Paramount’s pending acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery continues to be one of the most divisive developments in Hollywood over recent years. Now, the likes of Bryan Cranston, Pedro Pascal and Emma Thompson are among the hundreds of Hollywood stars who’ve signed an open letter attempting to block it.

“We write to express our unequivocal opposition”, opens the letter on blockthemerger.com, signed by over 1,400 film and TV professionals.

The letter states that concentrated media ownership will result in higher costs in filmmaking, fewer options for audiences, and fewer opportunities for up-and-coming creatives to enter the industry as the ‘production ecosystem’ becomes increasingly streamlined and consolidated.

The merger is estimated at around $111bn and comes at a time when Hollywood – and beyond - is already struggling to serve audiences due to financial strain. In 2024, the total global number of filming productions was down 16 per cent, while that number stands at a 37 per cent decrease in the US.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Some fault industry strikes for the financial crisis in Hollywood, while others say audiences’ reluctance to go to the cinema or purchase physical media such as DVDs due to the ease of streaming is largely what’s led to a lack of funding coming into the industry.

“We are deeply concerned by indications of support for this merger that prioritize the interests of a small group of powerful stakeholders over the broader public good” states the letter, also signed by JJ Abrams, Mark Ruffalo, Lily Gladstone, David Fincher, Kristen Stewart and Joaquin Phoenix, to name a few.

The letter also refers to the “healthy economy and democracy” needed in the film industry through active competition, which is at a huge risk if the industry becomes more condensed.

Why is the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger proving controversial?

Warner Bros Discovery currently owns HBO, CNN and TBS, alongside the Warner Bros film and TV studios, while Paramount (who merged with SkyDance media last year), owns CBS, Nickelodeon, MTV and others as well as the Paramount+ streaming service. The proposed merger between these two parent companies would decrease the number of major US film studios to four.

In December 2025, Netflix stated it had set up a deal to buy Warner Bros for $72 billion, but the streaming company backed away in February of this year after Paramount stepped in with a far higher offer. Netflix Co-CEO stated that offering higher than the reported $110 offered by Paramount didn’t make sense for their business as they would have been left in huge debt.

Online, other protest petitions are circulating. On X, a clip is also resurfacing from last month where journalist Jim Acosta states his concerns about right-wing news bias infiltrating CNN if the merger goes ahead.

The Block the Merger letter ends with information about a group of lawyers lead by California Attorney General Rob Bonta who are reportedly ‘considering legal action’ to block the merger. Additionally, the UK Competition and Markets Authority has asked for public views on the proposed acquisition.

Why not read…

• Netflix’s Warner Bros. bid could cause one huge change and film fans are worried

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