The renowned film studios Paramount and Warner have been united under the same administration. After a period of extensive negotiations and judicial decisions, the merger agreement was sanctioned in the United States, resulting in the formation of Skydance Corporation.
On Tuesday, October 6th, the company finalized the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) for a value of US$ 111 billion, which is equivalent to approximately R$ 552 billion.
This union consolidates a vast set of well-known studios and channels in Hollywood. In the cinematic sector, Warner Bros. Pictures and Paramount Pictures have joined. In the streaming segment, the group now includes HBO Max, Paramount+, and Pluto TV.
David Ellison will assume leadership of the conglomerate as president and co-CEO, working alongside Ynon Kreiz, who was previously head of Mattel. Another highly influential figure in the company is Larry Ellison, David's father and founder of Oracle.
The process faced interruptions due to legal disputes. In July, the U.S. Justice temporarily suspended the transaction after prosecutors from 12 states, led by California, filed a lawsuit against the agreement.
With the mergers involving Warner/Paramount and Disney/Fox, the Hollywood landscape will transition from six major studios to only four.
Skydance will also gain control of several channels, including CBS, CBS News, CNN, HBO, MTV, TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, and Food Network, in addition to the CBS Sports and TNT Sports divisions. The company's franchise catalog covers major entertainment titles such as DC, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Top Gun, Mission: Impossible, and SpongeBob SquarePants.
Although the Paramount and Warner brands will remain distinct in the film division, the streaming service is expected to eventually merge HBO Max and Paramount+, as reported by Variety. Casey Bloys, current director of HBO and HBO Max, will oversee all of this.
Despite receiving approval from major global antitrust bodies, including in Brazil, without major impediments, the company assumed significant commitments to finalize the deal with the states. Among these obligations, failure to comply with film release and distribution standards could result in the sale of the company's stake in the producer Miramax and the payment of up to US$ 30 million (R$ 149 million) for each film not released. Additionally, in the television sector, Skydance may be forced to divest in channels such as Comedy Central and VH1.