Paramount Skydance has completed its $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros Discovery, creating one of the world’s largest entertainment companies and marking a major shift in the global film, television and streaming industries.
The merger brings together two of Hollywood’s biggest studios and a vast portfolio of entertainment and media brands, including HBO, Warner Bros, CNN, CBS, Nickelodeon, Showtime, Comedy Central, DC Studios and Food Network.
The newly combined company will operate under the name Skydance Corporation, named after the studio founded by David Ellison, who is now chairman and chief executive of the enlarged entertainment group.
Describing the completion of the transaction as a “historic” moment for the film industry, Ellison said the merger would create a stronger competitor with greater resources and reach.
“From the start, our ambition was to bring these two storied studios together and create a stronger competitor, with the talent, resources, and reach to tell great stories in every genre, on every platform, for audiences everywhere. Now that ambition is a reality,” he said.
Ellison recently appointed outgoing Mattel chief executive Ynon Kreiz as co-chief executive of the company. Kreiz will oversee day-to-day operations and the integration of the two businesses, while Ellison will concentrate on strategy and technology.
The merger also brings several major franchises under the expanded company, including Harry Potter, Game of Thrones and The Lord of the Rings, alongside Paramount’s existing properties such as Mission: Impossible, Indiana Jones and Shrek.
Mark Thompson, a former BBC director general, will remain chairman and editor-in-chief of CNN Worldwide, while Bari Weiss will continue as editor-in-chief of CBS News.
Casey Bloys, who previously led HBO and Max content, has been appointed co-chair and chief content officer for the company’s direct-to-consumer operations.
Mike Proulx, research director at Forrester Research, said the restructuring effectively places HBO’s leadership team in charge of the combined streaming operation.
He said the arrangement could strengthen the HBO brand but warned that Bloys would face pressure to identify cost savings, potentially affecting the quality and volume of content.
The financial challenges facing the new company are also significant. Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, said the combined business would carry substantial debt at a time of relatively high interest rates.
He said the company would need to reduce costs and increase profits to bring its debt to more manageable levels, while pointing to the poor performance of Digger, described as Warner Bros’ final release before the merger, as evidence of the uncertainty surrounding the economics of the film business.
The takeover followed months of intense competition, legal battles and scrutiny from regulators and US state authorities concerned about the impact of greater consolidation on Hollywood.
Netflix had initially reached an agreement to acquire part of Warner Bros Discovery before Paramount Skydance entered the bidding process, triggering a competition for the assets that eventually resulted in Netflix withdrawing.
Lawyers representing about a dozen US states, led by California, subsequently launched legal action seeking to block the Paramount-Warner Bros deal. They argued that the merger could reduce competition, increase consumer prices and cause significant harm to cinemas, cable distributors and audiences.
The legal dispute was resolved last month after the states reached a settlement with Paramount and Ellison, clearing a major obstacle to completion of the merger.
As part of the settlement, Paramount agreed to establish a “news editorial independence board” aimed at ensuring independent, objective and fact-based reporting at CNN and CBS.
Editorial independence had emerged as a major concern following Paramount’s separate acquisition of CBS in 2025. Ellison, who hosted a dinner attended by US President Donald Trump earlier this year, has repeatedly sought to reassure critics that the company will protect editorial independence.
The new company also faces obligations designed to ensure that the merger does not result in a sharp reduction in film production.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who led the legal challenge and subsequent settlement, said the agreement was intended to ensure the studios continued producing substantial films that generate economic activity and employment.
The settlement includes safeguards against the use of low-budget or automated productions to meet annual film-production requirements, including restrictions relating to AI-generated movies.
Under the agreement, Paramount must release at least 30 films annually. Failure to meet the production requirement could ultimately force the company to sell its 49 per cent stake in Miramax, the film studio founded by Harvey Weinstein and his brother, Bob Weinstein.
The merger marks a major new chapter for both companies. Warner Bros, which has operated for more than a century and amassed more than 100 Academy Awards, has remained one of Hollywood’s most influential studios, while Paramount traces its origins to 1912 and owns a similarly extensive catalogue of films and franchises.
The combined Skydance Corporation now enters the market with an enormous library of content, major television and news operations and a global streaming presence, but faces the challenge of integrating the businesses while controlling costs, managing debt and addressing concerns over competition and editorial independence.
