Skydance-owned Paramount has officially completed its $81bn (£61bn) acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, merging two of the entertainment industry’s heavyweights into a single entity. The deal brings together major film franchises like Mission: Impossible and Harry Potter with prominent news networks such as CNN and the HBO Max streaming service.
The merger, one of the largest in US media history, proceeds after final legal obstacles were removed through settlements with a coalition of US states and a Hollywood writers’ union. The newly formed company has been named Skydance, with David Ellison assuming the role of chief executive to oversee creative direction and overall strategy.
Ellison has appointed Ynon Kreiz, the former chief executive of Mattel, as co-chief executive to manage day-to-day operations. The leadership team projects that combining the streaming technologies and cloud infrastructure of both companies will yield $6bn in cost savings.
Skydance plans to integrate services including HBO Max and Paramount+ and has set a production goal of releasing at least 30 films annually for the first two years, increasing to 32 per year for the following three. Ellison’s Skydance, founded in 2010, previously financed hits such as Top Gun: Maverick before acquiring Paramount last year and entering a bidding war for Warner Bros against Netflix.
Paramount ultimately raised its offer to $31 per share, leading Netflix to withdraw from the race, and the two companies agreed on a mutual merger in late February. The transaction faced significant opposition, including an open letter from thousands of industry professionals warning of reduced jobs and fewer choices for audiences, as well as scrutiny from US President Donald Trump regarding CNN’s editorial stance.
As part of a recent settlement with states that had sued to block the deal, the company agreed to establish a “news editorial independence board.” CNN editor-in-chief Mark Thompson will retain his position, and Ellison has committed to maintaining editorial independence within the organization.
Six billion in savings is impressive, but will this actually lead to better content or just bigger profits for shareholders?
Harry Potter and Mission Impossible in the same library? Now that is a crossover event waiting to happen.
Thirty films a year sounds like a lot. I hope they don’t sacrifice quality just to fill the schedule.
Wait, is Skydance actually the new Paramount now? I’m so confused by all these corporate name changes.