China clears Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros Discovery merger, easing $110 billion deal

China’s approval of the Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery merger shows how much leverage Beijing still holds over Hollywood, even as the Chinese box office matters less than it once did. For a $110 billion combination built to reshape streaming, theatrical distribution and negotiating power, clearance from Chinese antitrust authorities was one of the last major geopolitical hurdles.

The deal was announced on February 27, 2026, when Paramount Skydance agreed to pay $31.00 a share in cash for all outstanding Warner Bros. Discovery stock, valuing the company at about $110 billion in enterprise value. Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders approved the transaction at a special meeting in May 2026, and the U.S. Justice Department’s Antitrust Division cleared it on June 12. But the transaction was still not fully done, with the European Union review unresolved and a coalition of state attorneys general led by California and including New York preparing a lawsuit to try to block it.

China’s sign-off matters because both companies distribute films there, and the market can still swing the economics of a blockbuster. Warner Bros.’ Meg 2: The Trench took in $53.3 million in China in its opening weekend, while Paramount’s Top Gun: Maverick never got a Chinese theatrical release at all. Those two outcomes capture the uneven reality of a market that remains important for some franchises but increasingly difficult for U.S. studios to rely on.

The broader backdrop is a sharp shift in China’s box office. Since 2020, domestically produced films have accounted for roughly 80% of annual Chinese box office revenue, up from about 50% to 60% before 2019. That rise in local competition, combined with tensions between Washington and Beijing, has made access to Chinese screens more selective and has weakened Hollywood’s assumption that China can rescue every tentpole.

Even so, the approval removes a major uncertainty for two of the biggest names in media. If the merger closes, Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery would emerge as a larger global entertainment platform with more leverage over libraries, streaming packages, theatrical release strategies and the creators and advertisers that depend on them. Beijing’s decision suggests Chinese regulators are willing to let that consolidation proceed, even as Hollywood’s ambitions remain tethered to a market it can no longer count on.