Paramount's Warner Bros. bid barrels toward antitrust trial: What to know

Paramount Skydance's bid to acquire fellow entertainment giant Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has been mired in controversy and drew a lawsuit from critics who argue the deal is bad for the movie-making and media business. As David Ellison, the company's top executive and an ally of President Trump, wages a public relations and legal defense campaign advocating for the merger, a Democratic-led suit seeking to stop it appears likely headed for a jury trial in California next spring. The case took a dramatic turn this week, when California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) called off a planned settlement meeting over what he said were leaks orchestrated by Paramount publicizing details of previous meetings between the two sides, tainting the negotiating process. The company and state government have been trading barbs in court and in the media for weeks, with Paramount's top legal officer saying earlier this month the company was considering leaving its headquarters in Southern California if Bonta does not drop his lawsuit.  Here's what to know about the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger saga and how it got to this point. Since it was purchased by Ellison’s Skydance Media, Paramount has undergone massive changes to its content strategy and business, aiming to acquire as many assets as it can and gearing up for a fight with major tech platforms in the streaming era.   The company is trying to fend off others like Amazon, Apple and Netflix, which are pou…