Somewhere in the long shadow of a Hollywood backlot, more than 1,400 actors, directors and filmmakers signed their names to an open letter earlier this year — a collective act of alarm at what they saw coming. What was coming, it now appears, is very close indeed. The United States Department of Justice has approved the $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery by Skydance-controlled Paramount, declaring after what it described as a rigorous investigation that the deal would not harm competition but would, in its own striking phrase, "increase competition across the media and entertainment ecosystem." Whether one finds that verdict reassuring or bitterly ironic depends entirely on which side of the studio gate one stands.

The merger, if it is ultimately completed, would assemble one of the most formidable entertainment empires the industry has ever seen. Paramount Pictures, CBS, Showtime and Nickelodeon would be joined by CNN, HBO, TNT, TBS, TCM, DC Studios and New Line Cinema — a constellation of brands that stretches from children's cartoons to prestige drama to rolling news. At the centre of this new constellation stands David Ellison, son of Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, a prominent donor to President Donald Trump, a biographical detail that has drawn its own quiet scrutiny in the weeks since the deal was first announced. Yet federal approval is not the final word.

California's Attorney General Rob Bonta, who expressed concern in February that the merger would further consolidate and limit competition in an industry already weakened by layoffs, has indicated that a formal legal challenge may still be filed. His office confirmed to the BBC only that the review "remains under investigation" — three words that can sustain or destroy a $111 billion transaction with equal efficiency.