The actors fighting the Paramount-Warner Bros merger

Hollywood stars on both sides of the Atlantic unite to warn of media consolidation and harm to public interest

Three British superhero actors are hoping to come to the rescue of the beleaguered film industry, speaking out against the proposed merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery and urging the culture secretary to block the deal.

Benedict Cumberbatch and Benedict Wong, both of whom appeared in Marvel’s Doctor Strange, and Alan Cumming, who played Nightcrawler in the X-Men series, have penned an op-ed in The Guardian warning that the Paramount-Warner Bros. tie-up “threatens to inflict immense harm on the British public”.

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Among a host of issues, Cumberbatch, Cumming and Wong cite concerns over the livelihoods of British film and TV crews, independent film financing, and the consolidation of news publications.

“The UK is being threatened by a media merger that would harm our workers, our culture and the public – but we can stop it,” they said.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has said she is “minded to intervene” in the deal on public interest grounds.

“I am conscious that the proposed acquisition is global in nature. In reaching this decision, my focus has been, and will remain, on the UK public interest and the range of services available to UK audiences,” she said in a letter to the current and proposed owners of Warner Bros. Discovery.

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In response, Paramount said it remains “confident that our proposed transaction does not pose any media plurality issues”. But were the UK government to issue a Public Interest Intervention Notice, it would trigger further scrutiny from media regulator Ofcom and the Competition and Markets Authority.

Depending on her decision, Nandy “could end up upsetting or possibly ingratiating virtually all the major US studios, streamers and tech giants”, not to mention the Trump administration, which is strongly backing the deal, said Deadline.

This makes her “one of the most consequential culture secretaries in recent memory… in America that is.”

The call for the British government to intervene comes after 12 US states, led by California, sued to block the merger, warning it would raise prices, shrink the number of films made and fall foul of strict anti-trust laws.

Last week a US district judge temporarily paused the merger to consider the lawsuit. This prompted Paramount to agree not to close the deal until June 2027 or five days after the court issues a ruling on the case, whichever is earlier.

For Paramount, the delay in closing the deal “may prove costly”, said The Hollywood Reporter. Under the merger agreement, Warner’s shareholders are owed roughly $650 million per quarter or $6.9 million per day if the deal is not completed by 30 September.

More than 1,000 leading industry professionals from US film and TV signed an open letter in April warning of the impact of “media consolidation” that prioritises “the interests of a small group of powerful stakeholders over the broader public good”.

Mark Ruffalo, one of the actors leading the campaign, said: “It will mean less films, less TV, less creativity, less of everything from the people who make the decisions.”

“This merger is bad for everyone except the billionaire class”, and must be fought, he said.