Bryan Cranston, Jane Fonda, Joaquin Phoenix and more than 1,000 other Hollywood professionals released an open letter Monday vehemently opposing Paramount Skydance’s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, arguing that the corporate tie-up would hurt an industry “already under severe strain.”

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“This transaction would further consolidate an already concentrated media landscape, reducing competition at a moment when our industries—and the audiences we serve—can least afford it,” the signatories wrote in the letter, published early Monday on a website called Block the Merger.

“The result will be fewer opportunities for creators, fewer jobs across the production ecosystem, higher costs, and less choice for audiences in the United States and around the world. Alarmingly, this merger would reduce the number of major U.S. film studios to just four,” the signatories added.

Paramount Skydance chief David Ellison inked a deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in late February, triumphing over Netflix for control of a sprawling media empire that includes an iconic movie studio, HBO, and a suite of cable channels, including CNN.

Ellison has vowed to “honor the legacy of two iconic companies while accelerating our vision of building a next-generation media and entertainment company.”

Paramount Skydance did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter.

But the open letter illustrates the resistance to the deal among many members of Hollywood’s creative community. The list of signatories includes A-list stars (Glenn Close, Ben Stiller), celebrated filmmakers (Yorgos Lanthimos, Denis Villeneuve) and acclaimed writers (“The Sopranos” creator David Chase).

“Media consolidation has accelerated the disappearance of the mid-budget film, the erosion of independent distribution, the collapse of the international sales market, the elimination of meaningful profit participation, and the weakening of screen credit integrity,” the signatories wrote.

“Together, these factors threaten the sustainability of the entire creative community,” they added.

The letter was spearheaded by a group of advocacy organizations — including the Committee for the First Amendment, a free speech group led by Fonda, who warned that the merger “would be one of the most destructive threats to free speech and creative expression in our history.”

In the letter, first reported by The New York Times, the signatories expressed support for California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who has said the merger is “not a done deal.”

“These two Hollywood titans have not cleared regulatory scrutiny — the California Department of Justice has an open investigation, and we intend to be vigorous in our review,” Bonta said in a Feb. 26 post on X.

Bonta’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter.

Ellison is the son of Larry Ellison, the billionaire Oracle co-founder and a close ally of President Donald Trump, who has publicly called for new corporate ownership of CNN.

The Justice Department continues to review the Paramount-Warner merger on antitrust grounds. In an interview with Reuters last month, the head of the department’s antitrust division said Paramount Skydance will “absolutely not” have a fast track to approval because of political factors.

“The idea that somehow enforcement has been politicized is ludicrous,” Acting Assistant Attorney General Omeed Assefi told Reuters.

The letter was released shortly after the United Kingdom’s antitrust watchdog announced the first step towards a formal investigation into how the merger would affect British economic competition and British consumers.

“We expect to launch our phase 1 investigation in the coming weeks,” a spokesperson for the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority told NBC News.

“Effective competition helps ensure UK customers can enjoy quality content at a competitive price. The film and TV industries contribute billions to our economy, so it’s important we assess whether deals between studios may harm competition,” the spokesperson said.