The future Hollywood giant born of the — rather turbulent — merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery will end up with a name we already know: Skydance. David Ellison, head of Paramount Skydance, has announced that the new entity will keep the name of the production company he founded, with the merger between the two groups due to be finalised on 6 October. Ellison also made clear that the creation of this new shared banner won't mean the end of the Paramount and Warner Bros. names, which will live on as brands in the public eye. “Paramount and Warner Bros. have shaped more than a century of culture. By bringing them together, we aren't rewriting their history, we're giving them a more powerful engine”, Ellison explained in a message posted on his social media. The billionaire executive specified that the choice of Skydance is above all about giving the new group an identity of its own, without forgetting the legacy and history of the two studios. Paramount and Warner Bros. will therefore remain the names attached to their films, both those already made and those to come under their respective brands.
A colossal catalogue under one banner
It's worth pointing out that this merger comes after several months of negotiations and legal proceedings around a deal valued at roughly $110 billion. Cast your mind back: when it was announced several months ago, the merger was the subject of a lawsuit brought by 12 US states as well as the Writers Guild of America, who felt the tie-up could raise competition concerns. A settlement eventually cleared that hurdle, with a multi-year commitment to divest certain Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery operations.
In any case, putting Skydance front and centre also avoids symbolically favouring either of the two groups as they come together. During the talks, nicknames like “WarnaMount” and “ParaBros” did the rounds for the future entity. “Discovery”, on the other hand — which had given its name to Warner Bros. Discovery since the group's creation in 2022 — will vanish from the new company's name.
The new set-up will also have a two-headed leadership. David Ellison will keep his post as chairman and chief executive, overseeing strategy, creative activities and technology. Ynon Kreiz, former boss of Mattel, will become co-CEO and take charge of day-to-day operations as well as the integration of the various businesses.
On the streaming side, Paramount+ and HBO Max will sit within the same group, while the television portfolio will include channels such as CBS, CNN, MTV, TBS, Comedy Central and Food Network. The new conglomerate will also inherit a catalogue of hugely bankable franchises including Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, DC Studios, Yellowstone, Mission Impossible, Top Gun and Nickelodeon, to name just a few. Even so, there's going to be some serious grafting to do to pay back that $110 billion...
