Deadline's International Insider newsletter reports that Paramount's $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery faces weeks of further delay in the UK, as Parliament's summer recess means Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy will not decide whether to intervene on media plurality grounds until at least September, by which point Britain is expected to have a new Prime Minister and likely a new culture secretary. The uncertainty matters because David Ellison's Paramount owes WBD shareholders a costly "ticking fee" for every quarter the deal remains unresolved, while stars including Alan Cumming are actively campaigning against the merger, warning it would create a conglomerate "beholden to Donald Trump, autocrats and oligarchs."

The delay could prove expensive, with Paramount committed to paying roughly $650 million (25 cents per share) to WBD shareholders for each quarter the deal fails to close beyond the third quarter, and the merger already faces lawsuits from a dozen US states. Separately, the newsletter reports that Danny Boyle's Rupert Murdoch drama "Ink," starring Jack O'Connell, Guy Pearce and Claire Foy, will open the Venice Film Festival, with Ellen Burstyn set to receive the festival's Golden Lion award.