Paramount CEO David Ellison told his 12-member senior executive team last week that the studio will begin relocating out of California on October 1 unless state Attorney General Rob Bonta agrees to negotiate a settlement in the antitrust lawsuit seeking to block Paramount's $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. "In a span of weeks, Paramount agreed to halt the merger until a court decision or until June 2027, asked for a November trial, and is now back with another attempt to blackmail the state into letting an illegal deal through," he wrote on X. It didn't work the first time, and it won't work this time."