Paramount-Warner merger closes as Skydance warns of layoffs
Paramount Skydance's $110 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery closed Tuesday, creating a company called Skydance. Its leaders told staff the integration will bring "difficult decisions that affect our workforce," while Paramount and Warner Bros. keep releasing movies under their own names.
AI-assisted · US Brief desk · Sources listed below
What happened
Paramount Skydance's $110 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery closed Tuesday. The combined company is called Skydance. It puts two film studios, Paramount and Warner Bros., two streaming services, Paramount+ and HBO Max, and two news outlets, CBS News and CNN, under CEO David Ellison, NBC News reported. Skydance branding went up under the Warner Bros. water tower in Burbank the same day.
Layoffs ahead: In a "Day 1" memo, Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz wrote that "integrating two companies will bring change, including difficult decisions that affect our workforce." They said the company has nearly $70 billion in revenue and is targeting at least $6 billion in savings. It has not said how many jobs will go. A Los Angeles County report in August projected about 4,500 local film and TV job losses over three years, Variety noted.
Movies: Film co-chairs Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein told staff that Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures "will continue to build and release their slate of films separately, under those brands." DC Studios, New Line and Paramount Primal stay separate labels. Warner film chiefs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy left on Tuesday, Deadline reported. Under a Sept. 21 settlement with state attorneys general, the company must release 30 films a year for two years, then 32 a year for three years, or pay a fee, NBC said.
What’s next
Details of job cuts, and the independent editorial boards for CNN and CBS News that Ellison pledged as part of the state settlement.
More context
Other leaders: HBO's Casey Bloys will lead combined streaming. Mark Thompson stays at CNN, and Bari Weiss continues to lead CBS News. The board adds Kreiz, Laurene Powell Jobs and former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, NBC reported.
From the memo, on the name: "We realized early on that simply combining the two names – WarnerParamount, ParaWarner or ParamountWarner – accomplished none of what we wanted."
Two views: Ellison and Kreiz called the deal "the beginning of a new era in entertainment." Actor Mark Ruffalo, a leader of the campaign against the merger, wrote last week: "This was never about just one merger." On Monday, the Supreme Court declined an emergency request from private individuals to step in, NBC reported. Skydance shares fell 2.5% Tuesday to close at $9.53.
6 listed sources
- Variety (Todd Spangler), Oct 6, 2026: Skydance CEOs acknowledge layoffs will be coming after Paramount-Warner Bros. merger (full memo)
- Variety, Oct 6, 2026: Skydance film heads Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein set studios plan
- NBC News, Oct 6, 2026: 'A Skydance Corp.': David Ellison immediately puts his stamp on Warner Bros.
- Deadline, Oct 2, 2026: Michael De Luca & Pamela Abdy: when they are leaving Warner Bros.
- Variety, Oct 3, 2026 (earlier version of this story)
- Sourcing note: Company memos as published by Variety; trade press (Variety, Deadline) and NBC News. Critics' and company views are both quoted.
References listed by US Brief; a source count is not a verification score.
Editorial sourcing notes
Updated Oct. 8 after the deal closed; this replaces the Oct. 5 preview. An earlier version put the deal at $111 billion; NBC News and Variety's closing reports put it at $110 billion. Earlier trade reports on TV studio and cable roles are not repeated here because we have not confirmed a formal announcement. The company has not said how many jobs will be cut.
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