California AG Rob Bonta leads a push to block a potential merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery. Charlie Gasparino analyzes the regulatory battle, while actor Mark Ruffalo urges officials to stop the deal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Start spreadin’ the news\u2026 they\u2019re leavin’ today\u2026\u00a0<\/i>Wait, that\u2019s about New York.<\/p>\n
And maybe they\u2019re not leaving. Paramount has been threatening to leave Los Angeles and California for a few months now. Leaving would take one of Hollywood\u2019s “Big Five” studios out of the city, out of the state, but not out of anyone\u2019s mind. Discussions appear to be ongoing within the studio, as\u00a0FOX Business recently reported<\/u>.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Paramount and Warner Bros. have been trying to merge their operations, and they have faced pushback from state and local authorities. California sued to stop it. In the midst of that, the studio is reportedly looking at other options, playing the field, flirting with Austin, Texas, and looking for office space in Nashville, Tennessee.\u00a0<\/p>\n
PARAMOUNT MUM, BUT LA OFFICIALS ON NOTICE AS RUMORS OF MOVE FROM CALIFORNIA TO NASHVILLE SWIRL<\/strong><\/p>\n Paramount and Warner Bros. have been trying to merge their operations, and they have faced pushback from state and local authorities in California.<\/span> (Mario Tama\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n It\u2019s not an idle threat. Long-running talent show “American Idol” has already made the move. The ABC revival announced recently that it\u2019s ditching Tinsel Town for Atlanta. This will change its most iconic line \u2013 “You\u2019re going to Hollywood!” But it also changes the tax situation of everyone involved, for the better. “You\u2019re going to Atlanta!” doesn\u2019t have the ring that the former line had, but give it time.\u00a0<\/p>\n PARAMOUNT’S CALIFORNIA FUTURE IN DOUBT AMID ESCALATING LEGAL FIGHT<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Star after star has left Hollywood over the past few years. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but “American Idol” alum and first winner Kelly Clarkson left Hollywood and took her daytime talk show with her. Jason Eisenberg left for Indiana. Others include Glenn Powell (Texas), Harrison Ford (Montana), Matthew McConaughey (Texas), Ty Burrell (Utah), Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake (Tennessee and Montana), and\u00a0Dean Cain (Nevada)<\/u> are just a sample of the stars who\u2019ve decided California taxes and policies aren\u2019t worth the hassle.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n TV\u2019s Superman fired powerful parting shots at what he called the “land of ridiculousness” on his way out.<\/p>\n Dean Cain left California for neighboring Nevada.<\/span> (Photo by Dia Dipasupil\/Getty Images for New York Comic Con)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n “The policies are just terrible. The fiscal policies, the soft-on-crime policies, the homelessness policies,” Cain said in June 2023. “The things that our leaders in California have been doing have driven out anybody who can really afford to get out. People are flocking out of there in droves.”<\/p>\n Up to now, it\u2019s just been stars and individual productions leaving Hollywood.\u00a0<\/p>\n Paramount leaving would change the story entirely. Double that if the Warner merger goes through.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hollywood\u2019s Big Five are, currently, Disney, Universal, Warner, Sony and Paramount. The group would be reduced to either four or three depending on how things shake out. Either way, it\u2019s a disaster for what is the world\u2019s entertainment production capital. For now.\u00a0<\/p>\n There is a pattern in most of the stars\u2019 moves that would be replicated if Paramount moves to either of its most rumored destinations \u2013 Tennessee or Texas.<\/p>\n The Nashville, Tennessee, skyline with Broadway at sunset.<\/span> (iStock)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n I SAW THE MOVIE THAT WARNER TRIED TO DELETE: \u2018COYOTE VS. ACME\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n They\u2019re red states. With red state policies of lower taxation and regulatory burdens. They\u2019re red states that tend not to let their cities burn while the mayor is out of the country, too. And then (probably) reelect that mayor.\u00a0<\/p>\n California, New York and Illinois have become very good at driving Americans and businesses away and to red states, mostly Florida and Texas. Tennessee is in the game now, and while Georgia has gone purple, its production incentives should make California green with envy.\u00a0<\/p>\n Texas already has the Silicon Prairie and Y’all Street and has been chopping away at its high property taxes. Florida has the beaches and sunshine and a sound taxation policy. Georgia and Tennessee have willing workforces and leadership hungry to bring in high-profile industries.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n “Go West young man!” drove the ambitious toward California in the Gold Rush days, but it doesn\u2019t mean anything in the century of Zoom, AI and easy mobility. The Volume, the revolutionary digital stage used to shoot “The Mandalorian” TV series, means California\u2019s weather matters a whole lot less. If people can\u2019t get their legislatures to lower taxes, they\u2019ll find a state that will.\u00a0<\/p>\n CLICK HERE TO GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n California\u2019s current tax collectors would just confiscate most of the gold anyway.<\/p>\n Paramount reportedly has yet to decide whether it\u2019s moving or not. It may be able to wrangle some concessions out of the state and city and give them a reprieve. But the proverbial writing is on the wall, and it\u2019s increasingly being written hundreds of miles away from Hollywood.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n #Paramounts #move #Hollywood #Tennessee #Texas #puts #California #notice<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" California AG Rob Bonta leads … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4934,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[631,1151,233,7985,7984,1603,5898,2575],"class_list":["post-4933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance-news","tag-california","tag-hollywood","tag-move","tag-notice","tag-paramounts","tag-puts","tag-tennessee","tag-texas"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxbusiness.com\/foxbusiness.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/931\/523\/paramount-water-tower-sunset-getty.jpg?ve=1&tl=1\")
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n![\"Nashville,](\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxbusiness.com\/foxbusiness.com\/content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/931\/523\/nashville.jpg?ve=1&tl=1\")
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\n \nTicker<\/th>\n Security<\/th>\n Last<\/th>\n Change<\/th>\n Change %<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n PSKY<\/td>\n PARAMOUNT SKYDANCE CORP.<\/td>\n 10.21<\/td>\n -0.41<\/td>\n \n -3.86%\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n