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CHICAGO — It’s official: Skydance-owned Paramount has closed its $81 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery on Tuesday, using a new behemoth in Hollywood.
The merger will bring two of America’s oldest film studios together under a new name: Skydance.
HBO Max, titles from “Harry Potter” to “Sinners” and networks such as CNN now also find themselves under the same roof as Paramount +, CBS and the likes of “Top Gun” and “The Godfather”. They are all under the direction of billionaire David Ellison and his new co-head Ynon Kreiz.
“Today is a historic day, not only for Skydance but for our entire industry,” said Ellison. “We couldn’t be more excited to get to work.”
Ellison’s Skydance bought Paramount for $8 billion last year before eyeing Warner. What followed became a tumultuous, roughly year-long battle over the Hollywood giant. Including billions of dollars in debt, the acquisition totals nearly $111 billion.
The now combined Skydance marks one of the biggest mergers in media and entertainment history, concentrating more power in an industry that is already run by just a handful of big players. Politics also loomed over much of the process. The Ellison family has had a long relationship with Republican President Donald Trump, who said Tuesday that Skydance is “going to be a great company.”
The early days of Paramount’s bid for Warner turned into a messy bidding war.
Months after announcing it was open to selling all or part of its business, Warner struck a studio and streaming deal with Netflix in December.
But Paramount said it had also made offers that Warner management “never meaningfully engaged”. He soon launched a hostile bid.
The Hollywood giants spent much of early 2026 in a heated back and forth who had a stronger offer, with Warner’s leadership once again supporting Netflix as their preferred suitor. But Netflix bowed out after Paramount upped its offer to buy all of Warner for $31 a share.
Warner and Paramount filed a merger agreement at the end of February.
Hollywood was closely watching the fight over Warner’s future. From award shows to online petitions, A-list celebrities and other creatives made their voices known.
In April, thousands of movie stars, writers, directors and other professionals declared their “unequivocal opposition” to the Paramount-Warner merger. An open letter — signed by longtime critics of the deal like Jane Fonda and Mark Ruffalo, as well as Hollywood heavyweights from Denis Villeneuve to JJ Abrams — warned of fewer jobs and “less choice for audiences in the United States and around the world.”
Others were involved in Paramount while Ellison repeated his commitments to the films. At CinemaCon, the company released a glossy mini-film about the studio directed by Jon M. Chu and narrated by Tom Cruise – which ended the spot at the top of Paramount’s iconic water tower, with the words “the future is very important and the future looks great from here. Director James Cameron also doubled down on his support for Ellison.
A new Warner owner was also expected over the awards season, from #BlockTheMerger pins to more subtle nods in acceptance speeches. When she accepted her Emmy last month, “Remarkably Bright Creatures” actor Sally Field – who signed the open letter against the Paramount-Warner deal – emphasized that “the telling of certain stories is important” and “we can’t allow those voices to be silenced, or threatened or united.”
Many industry critics were also talking when the Netflix studio and streaming deal was on the table, with a particular focus on the future of movies living in theaters.
Critics are also watching what happens with CNN under Skydance.
Trump has regularly attacked reports that he considers unpopular at CNN (recently trying to get the service out of the White House entirely). And over Warner’s purchase, his administration also expressed hopes for a new owner.
Days after Paramount launched its hostile bid for Warner, Trump said CNN spread “poison and lies” and it was “necessary” to sell the network. The White House targeted CNN again in March, over the network’s coverage of the war between the US and Israel against Iran. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters that “the sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better.”
Ellison said editorial independence will be maintained at CNN. On Tuesday, he told reporters that the company “hasn’t talked to any political party leader about news — other than to say we want to be in the truth business and we want to be in the trust business.”
Skydance retains Mark Thompson as CNN’s editor-in-chief. And under a settlement finalized last month with states that had sued over the takeover, the company agreed to create a “News Editorial Independence Board.”
However, critics point to turmoil already seen at CBS under Skydance ownership and are not convinced that this new group will be able to do much. Appointments are overseen by the company’s corporate board.
Ellison has maintained a close relationship with Trump throughout. He reportedly hosted a dinner in Washington in Trump’s honor in April, the same day Warner shareholders gave their green light to the merger. In June, just two days after the Department of Justice said they would not intervene in the deal, Ellison attended the Final Fighting Championship match on the White House lawn for Trump’s 80th birthday (broadcast by Paramount+).
“We have a good relationship with this administration,” Ellison said Tuesday. But he said he also had a “very good relationship” with Democratic President Joe Biden, among other politicians.
To help finance the purchase of Warner, Paramount collected billions of dollars in financial support from three Gulf countries: Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The Federal Communications Commission approved the company’s request for large indirect ownership from these foreign investors.
Paramount previously disclosed that it intended for the fund to indirectly own nearly 50% of the equity interests – but no voting rights – in Skydance. But the company asked for up to 100% permission to account for potential future investments, which the FCC granted, citing in part that access to more capital would strengthen the broadcasting industry and was therefore “in the public interest.”
The FCC’s only Democratic commissioner, Anna Gomez, and other critics have called the move scary and unprecedented. They argue that a sum of money opens the door to influence behind the scenes.
Paramount cleared antitrust hurdles to acquire Warner from the Justice Department and regulators around the world this summer.
But in July, Democratic attorneys general from 12 states – led by Rob Bonta of California – sued to block the merger, arguing that the combined company would “eliminate competition” and give consumers, especially moviegoers and cable customers, fewer choices.
The Writers Guild of America followed suit.
Settlements appeared in September. The terms of the state, approved by a judge, include promises from the company to increase film production in the US over the next five years, to commit millions of dollars to a fund aimed at supporting workers who have been dismissed from the union and to establish a new editorial review of CNN and CBS.
Critics said the remedies were too weak, but the settlements cleared the way for the deal to close.
