We're offering a 2-week trial of WrapPRO for $1. If you’ve been wanting to check out our full coverage, now’s the time. Greetings!With Warner Bros. Discovery backing Paramount's new deal, David Ellison didn't waste time making his case for the merger in an investor call on Monday morning. Given the skittishness around this deal, Ellison will have a steep hill to climb in getting the entertainment community bought into yet more media industry consolidation. Unlike Netflix's strategy to keep the streaming services separate, Ellison said he would combine Paramount+ and HBO Max, which makes more sense since Paramount+ is a much smaller player and in need of increased scale. Importantly for the theaters, he added that he would commit to a minimum of 30 theatrical releases per year, with 15 from each studio. In addition, each release will get a minimum 45-day window globally before going to paid video-on-demand, with streaming releases coming after 60 to 90 days. “We said from day one, when we acquired Paramount, that we weren’t going to be in the business of making movies directly for streaming. We really believe that movies should be seen in theaters, and we still believe that’s one of the most significant places that you can really create long-term resonant intellectual property,” Ellison said on the call. The news will likely come as some relief to an embattled theater business still looking to recover, but that doesn't mollify the anxiety Hollywood faces. SAG-AFTRA executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland told TheWrap on Sunday that the union would render its verdict after "an in-depth analysis." The Writers Guild of America has already called the transaction "a disaster for writers, consumers and the entire entertainment industry." As our Lucas Manfredi notes in our lead story today, the regulatory challenges for Paramount and Ellison to close the Warner Bros. deal are just beginning. Roger Cheng 
Paramount said it expects to close the Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition by Sept. 30, although experts tell Manfredi that may be an overly optimistic estimate... 
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