The so-called Paramount decrees — the regulations that have governed Hollywood since the heyday of Marilyn Monroe and James Dean — are taking their final bow.
The antitrust division will soon ask the court to toss the decrees, except for a two-year sunset period on bans of certain practices, Makan Delrahim, the Justice Department’s top antitrust official, said during Monday remarks at an American Bar Assn. conference in Washington, D.C.
The review raised concerns among smaller theater owners who are struggling to survive in a consolidated industry that is increasingly dominated by a handful of chains. In comments sent to the Justice Department, the National Assn. of Theatre Owners, which represents cinema owners, said ending certain regulations could harm its members.
Other curbed practices included entering into single licenses to cover all theaters in a circuit, known as “circuit dealing,” and the tactic of granting theaters exclusive access to movies in a specific geographic radius,The department’s recent deregulatory moves mark a reversal from a few years ago, when the government tried to aggressively enforce restrictions on such clearances, which small theater chains say allow larger companies to muscle them out.