The massive combination of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery will soon have a new corporate name. David Ellison has announced that the combined entertainment company will be known simply as Skydance once the merger is completed.
Ellison, chairman and CEO of Paramount Skydance, revealed the name Friday as the company prepares to close its approximately $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. The deal is expected to close on October 6.
Despite the Skydance corporate name, the Paramount and Warner Bros. studio brands will remain intact. Ellison said the decision was made in part to create a separate identity for the parent company without diminishing two of Hollywood’s oldest and most recognizable studio names.
“We never wanted a new corporate identity to diminish, alter or overshadow either one,” Ellison said. “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.”
The choice also brings Ellison’s rise in Hollywood full circle. He founded the original Skydance Media in 2006, building the company through partnerships on major franchises including Mission: Impossible and Top Gun. Skydance completed its merger with Paramount in 2025, forming Paramount Skydance before moving to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery.
The Warner Bros. Discovery transaction cleared one of its final major obstacles this week when a federal judge approved a settlement involving 12 states that had sued to block the acquisition on antitrust grounds. The states had argued that the combination could reduce competition and give the new company too much control over areas of the film and television business. Paramount disputed those arguments.
Once completed, the merger will place an extensive collection of entertainment properties under the Skydance corporate umbrella. Those assets will include Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, CBS, CNN, HBO, DC Studios, Nickelodeon and numerous cable networks, along with streaming services Paramount+ and HBO Max.
The future of those streaming platforms remains one of the larger questions surrounding the combination. HBO chief Casey Bloys recently indicated that HBO Max and Paramount+ may be more likely to remain separate services offered together as a bundle rather than being consolidated into a single platform.
Leadership of the new company is also beginning to take shape. Ellison announced this week that outgoing Mattel chairman and CEO Ynon Kreiz will become co-CEO of the combined company when the transaction closes. Ellison will remain chairman and CEO, focusing on long-term strategy, creative direction, technology, talent relationships and capital allocation, while Kreiz will concentrate on day-to-day management and integrating the companies.
The Skydance name effectively becomes the corporate banner above two historic Hollywood studios rather than replacing either one. Paramount traces its history to 1912, while Warner Bros. was founded in 1923.
The merger represents another major restructuring of Hollywood following years of consolidation across the entertainment industry. Warner Bros. Discovery itself was created through the 2022 combination of WarnerMedia and Discovery, while Ellison’s Skydance took control of Paramount only last year.
With the transaction scheduled to close next week, the newly expanded Skydance will bring the Paramount and Warner Bros. libraries, franchises, television operations and streaming businesses under the same corporate ownership for the first time.
Source: THR