Paramount Skydance has filed its first detailed legal rebuttal to the antitrust lawsuit brought by a 12-state coalition seeking to block its $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, branding the case "one of the weakest merger challenges in modern antitrust history." The filing, submitted in opposition to the states' request for a temporary restraining order, argues that market realities in film distribution contradict claims the deal would harm competition, setting up a key court hearing on Friday that could determine whether the merger is temporarily halted.

Paramount's lawyers pointed to rivals including Universal, Disney, Amazon MGM, Sony, Lionsgate, A24 and NEON as evidence of low barriers to entry that would keep competition strong regardless of concentration figures cited by the states. They specifically cited Amazon MGM's success with "Project Hail Mary" as proof other studios could raise output if Paramount reduced its slate. On the cable side, Paramount argued its channels and Warner Bros. Discovery's are complementary rather than substitutes, and that cord-cutting is eroding bargaining power industry-wide, undermining the states' claims of unfair leverage over pay-TV providers. A hearing before Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin is scheduled for 10am Friday.