Since September 2025, Christopher Nolan has been serving as president of the Directors Guild of America, placing him squarely at the center of Hollywood’s most important existential threats.
Back in February, when it looked like Netflix might acquire Warner Bros., Nolan publicly came out opposed to the deal, citing “very significant concerns” about the potential merger. He did not believe Netflix’s theatrical rollout promises.
So, it should not come as much of a surprise that Nolan’s DGA has now come out in support of Paramount merging with Warner Bros. and is telling California AG Rob Bonta to back off his 12-state lawsuit against David Ellison.
The DGA and IATSE are urging AG Bonta and Paramount/Skydance CEO David Ellison to settle Bonta’s antitrust lawsuit. The unions argue that, while they generally see limited benefits for workers from mergers, the prolonged uncertainty surrounding this deal is worsening conditions in an already struggling industry.
In the letter, the unions said the March 2 trial date is “damaging” because productions have reportedly been delayed or canceled, further shrinking employment opportunities. Their position puts them at odds with the Writers Guild of America, which has filed its own antitrust lawsuit seeking to block the merger.
As our members struggle to find employment, the uncertainty surrounding the proposed merger is only making matters worse,” the letter states. “We are aware of productions that have been put on hold or canceled altogether, leading to further reductions in available work for our members and other industry workers.
The DGA and IATSE are instead proposing conditions and commitments, all of which Paramount has already accepted, including keeping the two studios as separate entities, having each produce at least 15 films annually, and continuing to license content from outside production companies at pre-merger levels. In other words, they are siding with Ellison.
It’s a pretty remarkable turnaround for the DGA and IATSE. Just months ago, they were warning about the “dangers of consolidation.” Now they’re effectively telling regulators to stop fighting the Paramount-Warner Bros. deal. Then again, they no doubt would rather have Paramount at the helm than Netflix, which is the untold story here—and something many outlets will overlook in their reporting of tonight’s letter. This isn’t necessarily about suddenly becoming pro-merger. It’s about choosing the lesser of two evils.
The DGA and IATSE are two of the most powerful showbiz unions, and If this merger does go through, they will have absolutely played a role in helping make it happen.
‘Cliff Booth’ has been rated R for "some strong/disturbing violence, bloody images, pervasive language, sexual content, nudity and drug use." That's what you get when Tarantino writes your script