paramount skydance CEO David Ellison made the following announcement Friday upon the completion of the merger: warner bros discovery Next week, the combined organization will be named Skydance.
This is a full-circle moment for a company that has made two major acquisitions in the past 18 months.
“Paramount and Warner Bros. have shaped culture for a century,” Ellison wrote in a social media post Friday. “By combining these, we are not rewriting history, but equipping these iconic studios with an even more powerful engine. Together, we will become Skydance, a creative-first home for bold, high-quality storytelling.”
Ellison said the new name will allow the company to keep Paramount and Warner Bros. as separate studios. The combined company will trade under the new ticker “SKYD.”
“We never wanted our new corporate identity to dilute, change or overshadow either,” he said. “Instead, we wanted a name that would give the combined company a unique identity while allowing Paramount and Warner Bros. and all of our extraordinary brands to remain in the spotlight.”
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison poses on the red carpet at the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors Ceremony held at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on December 7, 2025 in Washington.
Gina Moon | Reuters
Together, Paramount and Warner Bros. studios plan to release 35 films next year, according to Rentrak data.
In August 2025, Ellison’s Skydance, the production company behind the films Mission: Impossible and Top Gun: Maverick, completed its acquisition of Paramount. A few weeks later, the CEO set his sights on Warner Bros. Discovery and began a takeover bid that would eventually start a bidding war.
In February, Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery signed a deal worth approximately $110 billion on a corporate basis.
Paramount Skydance announced this week that the deal is expected to close on Tuesday after resolving a legal challenge brought by a group of state attorneys general.
Once the acquisition is complete, Ellison and Mattel’s outgoing CEO Inon Kreiz will serve as co-CEOs.
