Paramount has agreed to walk away from United International Pictures (UIP), its 44-year-old international distribution joint venture with Universal Pictures, in order to win European Commission approval for its takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. The move highlights the trade-offs regulators are extracting from Paramount to prevent the merged company from gaining too much control over film distribution and cinema access across Europe, and raises questions about whether it will be enough to protect the region's theatrical business.

Under the Commission's remedies, Paramount must unwind its 50% stake in UIP within 13 months of the Warner deal closing, forcing it to find new distribution arrangements across the 100 territories UIP currently covers, potentially via Warner Bros Pictures' own operations or existing partners, provided those partners have no ties to Universal or Disney distribution. UIP, headquartered in Chiswick, west London, employs around 200 people and posted sales of nearly £198m ($263m) in 2024 with a £12.2m pre-tax profit, though this is well down from its peak box office takings of $2.5 billion before Paramount and Universal took direct control of distribution in key markets in 2007. Both Paramount and Universal declined to comment on how the split will be handled or UIP's future.