Paramount loses bid to get Warner Bros suit on fast track

• Judge rejects Paramount's bid to expedite lawsuit over Warner Bros.-Netflix deal
• Paramount claims Warner Bros. misled investors about Netflix's $82.7 billion bid
• Warner Bros. board backs Netflix's offer over Paramount's higher all-cash bid

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A judge refused to fast track Paramount Skydance Corp.’s lawsuit accusing directors of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. of misleading investors about a more than $82.7 billion buyout bid from Netflix Inc.

Delaware Chancery Court Judge Morgan Zurn on Thursday found Paramount’s demands didn’t meet legal tests for expediting a hearing into accusations Warner Bros.’ board made erroneous disclosures about the deal.

Zurn said the entertainment giant failed to show it would “suffer irreparable harm” by Warner Bros.’ allegedly deficient disclosures. The judge explained that as a stockholder Paramount can’t be harmed directly by a lack of disclosures since it won’t be making any decision on its own tender offer.

Paramount’s suit to force out more details about the Netflix deal — filed earlier this week — has ratcheted up a rancorous bidding war between the media conglomerate and the streaming giant that has jolted Hollywood and Wall Street. Paramount says it wants Warner Bros. to correct misleading information about the deal before investors vote on it.

Paramount has targeted Warner Bros. since October with multiple offers, including the current all-cash bid of $30 per share. Warner Bros. has rebuffed those overtures, backing Netflix’s $27.75 stock-and-cash bid as superior.

“Today’s lawsuit by Paramount Skydance was yet another unserious attempt to distract and the judge saw right through it,” Warner Bros. said in a statement. “Despite its multiple opportunities, Paramount Skydance continues to propose a transaction that our board unanimously concluded is not superior to the merger agreement with Netflix.”

Warner Bros. has produced beloved film franchises from Batman to Harry Potter and is the home of HBO.

Read More: Netflix Weighs Amending Warner Bros. Bid to Make It All Cash

Paramount, which includes CBS among its properties, contends its offer has fewer risks and costs. Paramount Chairman David Ellison said in a letter to shareholders made public earlier this week that he would challenge the Netflix deal either at the regular Warner Bros. annual meeting or at a special meeting convened to approve the deal if one is set.

The case is Paramount v Zaslav, 2026-0044, Delaware Chancery Court (Wilmington).