The US Supreme Court has ordered California and 11 other Democratic-led states to respond by 25 September 2026 to a challenge from Iowa and Montana over their attempt to block Paramount Skydance's $111 billion (£87 billion) merger with Warner Bros Discovery. The order does not confirm that the Court will take up the Republican-led states' request, but it signals the justices may be weighing whether to fast-track the case, prolonging a bitter legal fight that has pitted the studio against a coalition of blue-state attorneys general.

The deadline falls the day after the twelve states are due to contest Paramount's request for a $1.88 billion bond before a federal judge in Oakland, and shortly before a $7 million-a-day penalty to Warner Bros Discovery shareholders begins accruing, amounting to more than $635 million a quarter. California Attorney General Rob Bonta has dismissed Paramount's threats to relocate from the state as "blackmail" and described the states' July antitrust filing as clear-cut, while Paramount and Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird argue the opposition is politically motivated, noting the deal already has approval from the Trump administration's Department of Justice, the UK, the EU and Canada. Neither Paramount nor the state attorneys general offices have commented on the Supreme Court's order.