The $110 billion merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery has closed, and David Ellison announced the combined company will operate under a new name: Skydance.
He posted the announcement to X:
“What once was the peak, is now just the beginning.
Paramount and Warner Bros. shaped over a century of culture. By combining them, we aren’t rewriting history — we’re equipping these iconic studios with a more powerful engine. Together, we are Skydance: a creative-first home for bold, quality storytelling.
We chose this name for a few important reasons. First and foremost, as we bring Paramount and Warner Bros. together, we wanted to preserve what has made each of these studios iconic. Both have distinct identities, extraordinary legacies and brands that have resonated with audiences for generations. We never wanted a new corporate identity to diminish, alter or overshadow either one. Instead, we wanted a name that would give the combined company an identity of its own while allowing Paramount and Warner Bros. — and all our extraordinary brands — to remain in the spotlight.
We have big goals for Skydance, and we intend to pursue them with passion, imagination and a willingness to take smart risks. At the same time, we will honor what makes Paramount and Warner Bros. special — giving both studios the opportunity to grow, tell more great stories and bring those stories to even broader audiences around the world, powered by the scale and capabilities of Skydance.
I couldn’t be more excited about what we’re going to build together.”
Ellison’s path to running both studios started in July 2024, when Skydance Media first agreed to acquire Paramount, ending the Redstone family’s decades of control over the company. That deal closed in 2025, with Ellison, son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, taking the top job at the newly formed Paramount Skydance.
Paramount Skydance moved on Warner Bros. Discovery shortly after, and Warner shareholders approved the $110 billion merger in a vote this spring. That same vote saw shareholders reject a non-binding pay package that would have given outgoing Warner CEO David Zaslav a roughly $887 million exit payout. More than 4,000 industry figures signed an open letter opposing the merger outright, citing job losses, consolidation, and reduced creative diversity as risks of combining two of Hollywood’s largest studios under one roof.
The deal still had to clear antitrust litigation from California’s attorney general and eleven other state attorneys general before it could close, on top of domestic and international regulatory review. Ellison had set an October 1 deadline threatening to relocate Paramount out of California entirely if the state didn’t settle, a threat tied to an estimated $500 million in annual tax savings. The settlement came through before that deadline hit, clearing the final obstacle to closing.
Skydance becomes the parent company name, with the stock ticker switching from PSKY to SKYD. Paramount and Warner Bros. keep their own studio identities, along with DC, HBO Max, Nickelodeon, CBS, Paramount+, and CNN continuing to operate under those names rather than being folded into a single brand.
The leadership shuffle is already underway. Casey Bloys, formerly CEO of HBO, takes over Paramount+ and HBO Max together, replacing Paramount Streaming head Cindy Holland. Ynon Kreiz, who exited his role as Mattel’s CEO, joins as co-CEO of the combined company. Warner Bros. film chiefs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy are departing as part of the transition.
Ellison has pledged the combined studios will produce 30 films annually, a number pitched as an answer to industry-wide concerns about shrinking theatrical output. Whether that pledge holds once two studio bureaucracies are forced to share a single corporate structure is the first real test of what “Skydance” means in practice.
Does folding Paramount and Warner Bros. under one parent company with a new name actually preserve what made each studio distinct, or is a rebrand just the first step toward merging them for real?
I still believe Skydance will move to Tennessee anyway, because of Mark Ruffalo’s continued antagonism, and Los Angeles being stuck between Karen Bass, and a Socialist as it’s choice of mayor.
Let’s see how long all this euphoria will last. Market forces and organizational inertia, from size, will apply the brakes at some point to this monopoly.