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By Adam Friedman | Reporter

Good morning, Lookout readers:

Today, before we get to our local coverage, I wanted to highlight a story from Politico about Paramount Studios eyeing Nashville real estate. 

If you aren’t familiar, Paramount, the movie and TV production company owned by David Ellison, son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison, is planning to merge with Warner Brothers (think HBO and CNN). 

As part of the merger, David Ellison has been curry-favoring with President Donald Trump and incurring the wrath of Democratic Attorneys General, like the one in California. 

California’s AG has sued to stop the merger, prompting Ellison to say if they don’t drop the suit, he’ll move the studio out of California because it’s delaying the merger.

The deadline to watch is Oct. 1, when Paramount will have to start paying Warner Brothers cash for not completing the merger. 

Only time will tell whether Nashville is in the mix for this studio or being used as leverage.

Below, we’ve got Sam Stockard’s weekly Stump on U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s complaint to the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance.

And I have a story on the state officials taking another crack at speeding up the process of choosing a developer for state-owned land surrounding the Boring Company’s underground tunnel in Nashville.

THE LOOKOUT’S TOP STORY

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, photographed on Aug. 6, 2026, will be the Republican gubernatorial candidate in November (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)

Stockard on the Stump: Blackburn camp blasts Registry for seeking AG probe

by Sam Stockard

U.S. Sen. Marsh Blackburn’s gubernatorial campaign spokesperson ripped the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance this week after it forwarded a complaint by a Blackburn surrogate to the Attorney General’s Office for investigation, as a Registry board member speculated, “It’ll be buried there.”

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FEATURED IN THE LOOKOUT

Part of the 10 acres the state wants to lease would include the parking lots above the Boring Company’s Music City Tunnel. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)

by Adam Friedman

Tennessee officials will take another crack at speeding up the process of choosing a developer for state-owned land near the Capitol in Nashville.

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ICYMI

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