This spring, a Paramount+ production crew filmed a series named after this city. The studio behind it is now considering leaving California altogether, and Texas is on its short list.
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison is prepared to begin moving the company out of California as soon as October, Variety reported, unless the company's merger with Warner Bros. Discovery is resolved through a settlement with California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
What is actually being decided
The dispute is a legal one. An antitrust case brought by 12 states is the final obstacle to closing the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger. Ellison told senior executives that if the deal does not close by Sept. 30, the company will begin exiting California on Oct. 1, and that the Paramount Skydance board has approved the move, according to Variety.
Where the company would go is unsettled. Variety reported that Paramount has not decided on a new home and is considering destinations including Georgia, Texas and Tennessee. Ellison's stated reason to his leadership team was cost: moving to a state with lower taxes and more business-friendly policies. He also suggested the company would consider selling its Los Angeles studio lots.
Bonta pushed back sharply. He called the planned exit an "attempt to blackmail the state into letting an illegal deal through" and wrote that "Paramount has lost the plot as it continues to lose in court." Paramount declined to comment to Variety, which confirmed reporting first published by the newsletter Puck.
Why Frisco already knows this studio
Frisco is not a hypothetical location for Paramount. As we reported in July, the Paramount+ series "Frisco King" is named for this city, stars Samuel L. Jackson as Russell Lee Washington Jr., and is written by Taylor Sheridan, who wrote all eight episodes of the first season.
It is a spinoff of "Tulsa King," and it was originally developed as "NOLA King," set in New Orleans, before Paramount+ retitled it and moved the setting to North Texas.
