REPORT: Paramount To Leave California Headquarters After 114 Years
Paramount Skydance is considering relocating headquarters and a substantial share of its California operations beginning October 1, 2026, if it does not reach a settlement in a multi-state antitrust lawsuit seeking to block its proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, according to a report from TMZ.
Paramount Pictures traces its origins to 1912, when Adolph Zukor founded the Famous Players Film Company. In 1916 the firm merged with the Jesse L. Lasky Company, which was already producing films in Hollywood. Construction of the present studio lot on Melrose Avenue began in 1926 on a 26-acre site that originally contained four stages.
The lot has since expanded to 65 acres with approximately 30 soundstages, a New York Street backlot, and a large water tank. It remains the only major studio lot still located within Hollywood proper.
After Skydance Media’s 2025 acquisition of Paramount Global, corporate headquarters functions were shifted to the Los Angeles lot, though the company continues to list a New York address in some filings and maintains offices in Santa Monica. Paramount Skydance reported about 17,600 employees worldwide at the end of 2025, while a significant portion of studio, production, and related work is concentrated in California.
Chief Executive Officer David Ellison told senior executives in early August 2026 that headquarters relocation would begin first if the merger remained unresolved by September 30, followed by a multi-year shift of most studio jobs. The company has also discussed possible sale of the Paramount or Warner Bros. lots
The October 1 date coincides with the start of a contractual “ticking fee” of $7 million per day payable to Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders until the transaction closes. A trial in the states’ case is scheduled for early 2027.
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🚨 EXCLUSIVE: Paramount to leave California, according to the L.A. Mayor’s office and the California Attorney General’s office.
What we know: https://t.co/X3Qv5CAVDL pic.twitter.com/1vWZS5AXVb
— TMZ (@TMZ) September 16, 2026
A preliminary economic analysis prepared by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation’s Institute for Applied Economics and dated September 10, 2026, was commissioned by Paramount and later obtained by TMZ.
The report estimates that an initial phase of relocation between October 1, 2026, and September 30, 2031, would produce losses of 2,750 to 5,550 job-years and $1.01 billion to $2.03 billion in economic output. A completed relocation of headquarters and other California operations would result in the permanent loss of approximately 28,990 to 57,980 full-time jobs statewide and $10.6 billion to $21.2 billion in annual economic output, with state and local tax revenue declining by roughly $585 million to $1.17 billion per year.
The figures include direct, indirect, and induced employment. The same analysis notes that a post-merger commitment to produce 30 feature films per year for three years could generate 1,020 to 2,760 job-years and $377.7 million to $1.01 billion in output over the same five-year window if production remained in California.
Possible destination states identified in reporting include Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas, all of which are jurisdictions that have offered film and television tax incentives. The company has not announced a completed departure as of this report.
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