Oh, how the regulatory tables have turned. Only a month ago, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) cleared Paramount-Skydance’s $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), turning industry eyes feverishly to the antitrust investigations launched by international regulatory bodies. In a surprise turn of events, the European Commission (EC) just cleared the merger on the grounds it dropped its film distribution joint venture with Universal Pictures, while 12 US states and the Writers Guild of America (WGA) filed separate antitrust lawsuits into the “unlawful” mega-merger. Now, Paramount-Skydance and WBD have agreed to pause the acquisition until an antitrust trial takes place, or until June 2027, whichever comes first. In a huge blow to Paramount, the original plan was to…