Indie buys limited to $5 million annually under Paramount-Warner Bros. $111 billion deal

The settlement that lets the Paramount –Warner Bros. merger move forward in California tucks in a very specific indie-film mandate: the combined studio must set aside $5 million a year to buy completed movies made outside the major-studio system and commit to releasing at least four independent films annually, according to the California Attorney General’s office. The fund runs for five years, totaling $25 million.

The combined studio will spend $5 million a year on acquiring completed independent films — $25 million over five years.

Per the state’s settlement document, that money targets finished features built on original screenplays or projects from producers outside the big Hollywood companies — not titles originating at Paramount, Disney, Universal, Sony, or similar studios. In other words, it ’s earmarked for truly independent cinema.

The indie carve-out sits alongside much larger commitments attached to the merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, valued at $111 billion including debt. The same settlement requires $1.5 billion in additional domestic film and TV production over five years and creates a $47.5 million Workforce Fund for displaced employees. It also outlines theatrical targets that, if missed, can trigger $30 million per film penalties, per the AG’s filing, while the combined company manages a reported $77 billion debt load.

Indie guardrails

The indie-purchase cap applies to completed movies from outside the studio system — a bid to ensure the merged company keeps room for films that don’t originate within its own pipelines. Releases can be theatrical or otherwise; the requirement is that four indie titles make it out each year under the new regime.

Paramount’s indie history

Paramount has been here before. In 2023 it revived Republic Pictures as an acquisitions label and brought a handful of festival discoveries into its orbit:

• BlackBerry
• Self Reliance
• The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
• September 5

Go back further and the Paramount Vantage era punched above its weight with prestige titles and buzzy buys:

• No Country for Old Men
• There Will Be Blood
• Into the Wild
• Hustle & Flow — acquired at Sundance for a then-record $9 million
• Smoke Signals

The new $5 million-a-year allocation arrives amid a moment when smaller productions can break big — recent indie wins like Obsession and Backrooms have shown there’s noise to be made outside the studio tentpoles.

With California’s sign-off in place, the indie fund spans five years and the merged studio is obligated to release at least four independent films annually.