Paramount Skydance Corp. must pause its $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. through Aug. 17, according to a federal ruling Thursday. The transaction, which would combine the two media giants across streaming, film and television, and cable networks, received a temporary restraining order from U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín Monday.

Initially pushing the deal back for two weeks, the judge on Thursday extended the order to four weeks, citing “the need to resolve two preliminary injunction motions, the parties’ disputes regarding the schedule and the proposed format of the preliminary injunction hearing, and defendants’ stated willingness to abide by the terms of the TRO for some weeks into the future.”

The initial restraining order is a direct response to California State Attorney General Rob Bonta’s lawsuit against the merger, which alleges antitrust violations that would result in a shrinking market, less consumer choice and worse quality across film and television. The lawsuit is backed by 11 other attorneys general.

Evidentiary hearing proposal

Paramount is proposing a three-day evidentiary hearing in late August, according to Deadline. The legal team said Paramount would agree to extend the temporary restraining order “to cover the period through a decision by the Court” in a Wednesday filing. The judge is currently considering whether to issue a preliminary injunction, which could further postpone the deal when legal proceedings continue for at least eight months.

Having swiped the deal from Netflix Inc. in February, Paramount agreed to pay Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders a ticking fee of $0.25 per share for each day the deal stays open after September 30 this year. That counts towards $7.2 million per day, or $650 million per quarter – a difficult situation for Paramount.