{"id":411356,"date":"2026-08-20T00:32:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T00:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/411356\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T00:32:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T00:32:08","slug":"paramount-ceo-david-ellison-eyes-austin-as-potential-new-base-after-threatening-to-ditch-california-during-antitrust-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/411356\/","title":{"rendered":"Paramount CEO David Ellison eyes Austin as potential new base after threatening\u00a0to ditch California during antitrust battle"},"content":{"rendered":"

As an antitrust battle threatens his Hollywood empire<\/a>, Paramount boss David Ellison is eyeing a new base in Austin, Texas, The Post has learned.<\/p>\n

The 43-year-old media mogul \u2014 facing heat from California Attorney General Rob Bonta over his plans to merge Paramount with Warner Bros. Discovery in a $110 billion mega deal \u2014 is actively evaluating a prospective movie and TV studio in the Texas capital, according to three people familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n

While Paramount has not formally committed to the plans, sources said the entertainment giant and its partners are in advanced negotiations and zeroing in on the Bluebonnet Business Center \u2014 a hulking commercial development in the east of the city \u2014 as a primary target.<\/p>\n

Paramount CEO David Ellison has said that he will begin the process of shifting jobs out of California if AG Rob Bonta fails to negotiate by Oct. 1. Zuffa LLC<\/p>\n

Located at 9219 Old Manor Road, the sprawling industrial park\u2019s crown jewel is Building 4, a 415,000-square-foot cross-dock mega facility. <\/p>\n

By comparison, Paramount\u2019s legendary lot in Los Angeles \u2014 whose soundstages have produced iconic films including \u201cRear Window,\u201d \u201cThe Godfather,\u201d \u201cGrease\u201d and \u201cForrest Gump\u201d \u2014 spans about 360,000 square feet. <\/p>\n

Warner Bros. \u2014 home of legendary films from \u201cCasablanca\u201d to \u201cBlade Runner\u201d \u2014 operates dozens of soundstages across LA with a combined footage of nearly 1 million square feet.<\/p>\n

A Paramount spokesperson declined to comment.<\/p>\n

The Bluebonnet Business Center has a sprawling facility that has all the necessary infrastructure to power a major studio. David Ellison is eyeing an Austin base for Paramount amid threats to flee California. Google maps<\/p>\n

One insider fumed that California\u2019s Attorney General Rob Bonta \u201cis trying to kill Hollywood jobs.\u201d REUTERS<\/p>\n

Representatives for Hines, the property\u2019s developer, and Aquila Commercial, the main broker, did respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Opportunity Austin, a regional economic development group tasked with luring corporate investments and jobs to Central Texas, also did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

The surprise pivot by the CEO of Paramount Skydance could be framed as a strategy to cut costs by skirting California\u2019s high taxes<\/a>, regulations and its heavily unionized entertainment industry workforce, according to sources briefed on the plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cRob Bonta is trying to kill Hollywood jobs in California while boosting real estate commissions in Texas. If Bonta\u2019s plans were a movie, it would be \u2018Dumb and Dumber,’\u201d fumed one insider with direct knowledge of Ellison\u2019s Texas blueprint.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs for Paramount, they don\u2019t want to leave the state, but they are sort of being kicked out by the Democrats,\u201d the source added.<\/p>\n

Twelve state attorneys general, led by California, filed a lawsuit seeking to block Paramount Skydance\u2019s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. (Getty Images North America) Getty Images<\/p>\n

If Bonta does not agree to settle his antitrust allegations by Oct. 1, Ellison, son of software giant Oracle\u2019s billionaire co-founder Larry Ellison, has reportedly threatened to begin the process of moving out of the Golden State.<\/a><\/p>\n

Public records show work is already well underway at the Austin site, making it a turnkey fortress for any incoming corporate whale.<\/p>\n

Boasting sky-high 36-foot ceilings, 96 dock doors, and a mammoth 4,000-amp power supply, the colossal warehouse already packs the megawatt punch that would be needed to power sprawling Hollywood soundstages.<\/p>\n

Filings with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation dated June 27, 2025, reveal that an initial 25,685-square-foot executive landing suite is undergoing a rapid interior buildout.<\/p>\n

Texas has been working to tempt businesses away from higher-tax jurisdictions. Ryan Conine \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

The project, filed under the blind corporate title \u201cIDI Office,\u201d lists a $350,000 budget and taps Houston-based Powers Brown Architecture to design the space.<\/p>\n

Municipal permits from the City of Austin show specialized contractors have been bustling around the property, performing wide-sweeping power, plumbing and wiring upgrades.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere would be three issues,\u201d one Austin business bigwig told The Post. \u201cWhat is the economic benefit and footprint in Austin? What are the workforce potentials? And then, what kind of state benefits will come out of it?\u2019<\/p>\n

The project, if finalized, would hand a massive victory to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who continues to lure entertainment productions away from the West Coast with aggressive tax perks and state film incentive packages.<\/p>\n

Austin already boasts a growing studio network anchored by Robert Rodriguez\u2019s Troublemaker Studios and the Austin Film Society facilities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As an antitrust battle threatens his Hollywood empire, Paramount boss David Ellison is eyeing a new base in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":411357,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,910,11506,143620,20357],"class_list":["post-411356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-business","tag-paramount","tag-skydance","tag-warner-bros"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411356\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/411357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}