Skydance Is Here: Ellison's New Hollywood Giant

A new Hollywood studio is born. TheWrap reports that David Ellison’s merger of Paramount Skydance with Warner Bros. Discovery closes this week, creating a company called Skydance that starts trading Tuesday under the ticker SKYD. Ellison only officially acquired Paramount 13 months ago. Now, a year later, he leads what will be the third-largest studio in Hollywood, behind Netflix and Disney.

Ellison, 43, has promised $1.5 billion in film production investment and news independence. The new company will release 30 feature films theatrically each year under a consent decree that also requires $300 million in annual U.S. production spending for five years. An oversight board will govern CNN and CBS News.

TheWrap describes Ellison as facing the challenge of integrating two vastly different organizations while cutting $6 billion in costs under $80 billion in debt. One producer-friend quoted by TheWrap calls him “Smart. Kind. Polite. Loyal. Hard-working.”

Opposition to the merger has been widespread. TheWrap notes fears of job losses, Trump-friendly control of news operations (Larry Ellison, David’s father and the world’s fifth-richest man, is also a TikTok shareholder), and retaliation against opponents. A consent decree will impose some guardrails.

“Like running from one end of a football field to the other with a stadium full of people shooting at us.” — Chief Legal Officer Makan Delrahim, via TheWrap

Even before the merger closed, changes hit the executive ranks. TheWrap reports that Warner Bros. film chiefs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy learned they were out via news leaks. Abdy reportedly told Ellison, “Good luck to you. I left you 39 movies.” Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein will lead both Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. studios. Ynon Kreiz, former Mattel CEO, joins as co-CEO and is expected to lead cost-cutting.

TheWrap’s reporting makes clear: the new Skydance team has a lot to prove. Hollywood is watching.