Hollywood stars unite against Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery merger

More than 1,000 film and television professionals have turned the Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery deal into a fight over who will control Hollywood’s future. In an open letter posted on BlocktheMerger.com, actors, writers, directors and other creatives declared “unequivocal opposition” to the transaction and warned that it would further concentrate an already crowded media business.

The letter says the merger would leave creators with fewer opportunities, cut jobs, raise costs for audiences and reduce the number of major U.S. film studios to four. Among the signers are Adam McKay, Alan Cumming, Alyssa Milano, Boots Riley, Bryan Cranston, Cynthia Nixon, Damon Lindelof, David Fincher, Denis Villeneuve, Elliot Page and Glenn Close, with other reported names including Jane Fonda, Joaquin Phoenix, Ben Stiller, Kristen Stewart, Emma Thompson, Jason Bateman, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mark Ruffalo, Don Cheadle and Rosanna Arquette.

The pushback is coming at a critical moment. Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders are scheduled to vote on the deal on April 23, 2026, at 10 a.m. Eastern, after the company’s board unanimously recommended approval. If shareholders and regulators clear the transaction, the merger is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026. The combined company is valued at roughly $110 billion to $111 billion, and Larry Ellison has personally committed up to $46.7 billion toward the deal.

For studios, the stakes are concrete. Control of Warner Bros. Discovery would give Paramount Skydance access to HBO, HBO Max, Warner Bros. studios, DC, CNN, TBS, TNT, HGTV and Discovery+. Critics say that kind of consolidation would shape which projects get greenlit, how much money is available for production budgets and how much leverage writers, actors and crew members have when labor contracts come up again.

Damon Lindelof sharpened that warning separately on Instagram, saying mergers mean fewer movies and TV shows, fewer jobs and that one of the two storied backlots would become a “ghost town.” Jane Fonda has also emerged as one of the most visible opponents, wearing a “Block the Merger” pin at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party and arguing that the deal would be bad for workers, raise prices and create political control over media.

The merger is also drawing scrutiny well beyond Hollywood. California Attorney General Rob Bonta is reviewing the deal and coordinating with New York Attorney General Letitia James, while the Teamsters have urged the Justice Department to block the transaction unless Paramount accepts conditions. Cinema United chief Michael O’Leary has warned that consolidation means fewer jobs and less consumer choice, a warning now echoed by a broad coalition of the people whose careers would be shaped by the outcome.