Paramount Closes Mega Warner Bros. Takeover After Dem AGs, Hollywood Actors Attempted To Kill It

Paramount completed its $81 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on Tuesday, combining some of Hollywood’s most recognizable studios, television networks and streaming services under a new company called Skydance.

The blockbuster deal puts Warner Bros., HBO, CNN, CBS, Paramount Pictures, HBO Max and Paramount+ under the same corporate roof, along with franchises ranging from “Harry Potter” and “Game of Thrones” to “Top Gun” and “Mission: Impossible.” Including debt, the transaction amounted to nearly $111 billion. The deal closed after 12 Democratic state attorneys general sued to block the merger in July and temporarily won a court order halting it, only to settle with Paramount in September under an agreement requiring additional domestic film production, worker assistance and editorial safeguards for CNN and CBS.

Hollywood actors and filmmakers also fought the merger, with thousands of industry professionals signing an April letter opposing the deal, and actors including Jane Fonda and Mark Ruffalo publicly urging regulators to stop it.

The Department of Justice cleared the transaction in June after concluding it was unlikely to harm competition or American consumers. The Democratic attorneys general sued roughly a month later, alleging the combined company would weaken competition in theatrical film distribution and cable television.

A federal judge temporarily blocked the deal in July before Paramount and the states reached their September settlement. Paramount agreed to spend an additional $1.5 billion on U.S. film production over five years, release at least 30 films in theaters annually and establish new editorial oversight mechanisms for CNN and CBS. 

Skydance founder David Ellison will lead the combined company alongside co-CEO Ynon Kreiz, further consolidating some of the country’s biggest entertainment and news properties under one corporate owner.

“Today is a historic day, not just for Skydance but for our entire industry,” Ellison said in a statement Tuesday. “We couldn’t be more excited to get to work.”

Ellison’s Skydance combined with Paramount in August 2025 through a transaction in which the Ellison family and RedBird Capital Partners committed more than $8 billion to acquire Paramount’s controlling shareholder and invest in the new company. Ellison then quickly turned his attention to Warner Bros. Discovery.

Paramount ultimately agreed to pay Warner Bros. shareholders $31 per share following a monthslong bidding war with Netflix. Warner Bros. had initially backed a competing Netflix deal covering its studios and streaming operations before Paramount launched a hostile bid for the entire company.