Paramount’s $111 billion bid for Warner Bros. Discovery is facing another delay as California-led lawsuits continue to keep the merger from closing. The deal has already run into regulatory scrutiny, competing remedies and a court schedule that stretches far beyond David Ellison’s original target. Now, the Justice Department has stepped into one of the most consequential financial disputes surrounding the stalled transaction.

For a merger that was supposed to be settled in boardrooms, the latest fight is unfolding over a very different question: who should pay for the time the courtroom is taking?

The Justice Department is urging a federal judge to require the dozen states challenging the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery deal to post a bond that could reach $1.88 billion. In a statement of interest filed Tuesday, the department argued that state and private parties challenging a merger can be required to provide financial security for potential damages caused by keeping the transaction on hold. The DOJ described the bond requirement as a way of making sure litigants have financial “skin in the game.”

The Hollywood Reporter reports that Paramount has been pushing California Attorney General Rob Bonta to provide the $1.88 billion bond as the lawsuits continue to delay the merger. Paramount has pointed to mounting costs from the prolonged wait, including financing expenses and opportunities to increase production investment that it says have been affected by the litigation. The trial is currently scheduled for March, placing the legal showdown months beyond Ellison’s hoped-for late-September closing date.

But there is a technical wrinkle that could make the dispute considerably more complicated. The states have argued that the court never formally issued an injunction because Paramount voluntarily agreed not to close the transaction under a joint stipulation. Paramount has rejected that characterization, while the financial stakes continue to grow. Under the merger agreement, Warner Bros. shareholders are owed roughly $650 million per quarter, or approximately $6.9 million per day, if the deal remains unclosed after October 1.

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The bond fight, however, is only one piece of a much larger puzzle. While Paramount is fighting over the financial consequences of the delay, another courtroom development could determine whether the two sides can find a way around the litigation altogether.

Paramount will meet with Bonta and the Writers Guild of America for two consecutive days beginning October 14 in an effort to explore a settlement of the lawsuits. U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Hixson will oversee the discussions, with lead negotiators from Paramount, the states and the WGA expected to participate. The court has instructed the parties to arrive prepared to discuss their settlement objectives, obstacles to an agreement and possible ways to resolve the dispute.

The biggest obstacle remains the question of what Paramount would have to give up to secure an agreement. Bonta has maintained that he wants structural remedies, which could mean divesting parts of the combined business, while Paramount has so far proposed behavioral commitments. Among those concessions is a pledge to release at least 30 movies with theatrical windows of 45 days.

That difference captures the larger tension surrounding the merger. Federal regulators have already completed their review and concluded that the transaction was unlikely to substantially harm competition, but the state litigation continues on its own track. With billions of dollars attached to the delay and settlement talks now scheduled, Paramount’s path to Warner Bros. Discovery remains dependent on what happens both inside and outside the courtroom.

The next phase will be watched closely as Paramount balances the cost of waiting against the concessions needed to move the merger forward.

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What do you think about the latest development in the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger battle? Share your thoughts in the comments.