Ellison Names Planned Paramount-Warner Bros. Company Skydance

David Ellison announced Friday that the company planned from a merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery will be called Skydance, while Paramount and Warner Bros. remain distinct brands. The deal had not closed when Ellison revealed the name, and the companies said completion was scheduled for October 6, 2026. Ellison, Skydance’s founder and Paramount’s chief executive, announced the name in a post on X and an accompanying video. He said the combined company needed an identity of its own without diminishing the histories or visibility of Paramount and Warner Bros. The studios, he said, would retain their identities under the Skydance corporate name. The planned combination brings together two major film studios and their related businesses. The companies’ holdings include streaming services HBO Max and Paramount, as well as television networks and entertainment brands. The announcement did not set out how the streaming services would be operated after a closing; reports have described both a possible bundle and earlier discussion of phasing out HBO Max, but no final arrangement was established. The merger remains a planned transaction, not a completed one.