The Warner Bros. sale is finished: on Tuesday, October 6, Paramount Skydance completed its $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, and the combined company now trades as Skydance Corp. It ended a contest in which Netflix had first agreed to buy the studio and HBO, only to walk away when Paramount raised its bid.
The short version: David Ellison’s Skydance, which had bought Paramount in 2025, now owns Warner Bros. as well, along with HBO, HBO Max, CNN and the WBD cable networks. Both studios keep their names and logos. DC Studios keeps James Gunn and Peter Safran. HBO Max and Paramount+ are still separate apps for now, but Ellison has said he plans to combine them.
Who bought Warner Bros.?
Paramount Skydance bought all of Warner Bros. Discovery, not just the studio. CBS News described the result as uniting the studios behind The Godfather and the Harry Potter films, along with CBS News and CNN, cable channels from Nickelodeon and Comedy Central to TNT and TBS, and both Paramount+ and HBO Max. WBD shareholders receive roughly $31 per share in cash.
The company is called Skydance, after the production firm Ellison founded in 2006. In their first email to staff, published by The Hollywood Reporter, Ellison and his new co-CEO Ynon Kreiz explained that they had considered and rejected merged names: “WarnerParamount, ParaWarner or ParamountWarner” all made “two giants feel smaller, not greater,” in their words. The new company says it has nearly $70 billion in revenue, and Variety notes it also carries some $80 billion in debt.
How the Warner Bros. sale played out
Skydance closed its $8 billion purchase of Paramount Global on August 7, 2025, and by September Ellison’s overtures to the Warner Bros. Discovery board were surfacing. WBD formally opened a sale process in October 2025, citing unsolicited interest from “multiple parties,” and by November Netflix, Comcast and Skydance had all made offers for some or all of the company.
Netflix won the first round. On December 5, 2025, WBD agreed to sell Warner Bros. and HBO to Netflix in an $82.7 billion cash-and-stock deal that left out CNN, TNT and the other cable channels. Three days later Paramount went straight to WBD’s shareholders with a tender offer for the whole company, and Ellison told analysts, “Our proposal is superior to Netflix’s in every dimension.” WBD’s board urged shareholders to reject it.
The fight ran into the new year. Netflix switched its offer to all cash in January; Paramount added a ticking fee of $650 million per quarter if its deal had not closed by the end of 2026. In late February Netflix declined to match Paramount’s improved offer, telling investors, “The deal is no longer financially attractive,” and the next day Paramount signed a $110 billion all-cash agreement for the whole company. At $31 a share, NBC News reported, that valued Warner’s equity at roughly $77 billion.
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 2025 | |
| Aug. 7 | Skydance completes its $8 billion purchase of Paramount Global |
| Oct. 21 | Warner Bros. Discovery opens a formal sale process |
| Dec. 5 | Netflix agrees to buy Warner Bros. and HBO for $82.7 billion |
| Dec. 8 | Paramount Skydance launches a tender offer for all of WBD |
| 2026 | |
| Feb. 26 | Netflix declines to match Paramount and walks away |
| Feb. 27 | Paramount signs a $110 billion all-cash deal for all of WBD |
| June 12 | Justice Department closes its review with no conditions |
| July 13 | Twelve state attorneys general sue to block the deal |
| Sept. 21 | Paramount settles with the states |
| Oct. 6 | Deal closes; the company becomes Skydance Corp. (NYSE: SKYD) |
The regulators, the states and Hollywood’s objections
The federal review turned out to be the easy part. Variety’s timeline records that the Justice Department closed its investigation in June “without imposing any conditions or divestitures.” Opposition came from elsewhere. In April an open letter calling on officials to block the merger drew signatures from 1,000 industry creatives, among them Ben Stiller, David Fincher and Denis Villeneuve, and a Paramount filing disclosed that about 38.5% of the new company’s equity would belong to sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
In July, twelve state attorneys general, led by California’s Rob Bonta and New York’s Letitia James, sued to block the deal on antitrust grounds, and the Writers Guild of America brought its own case. Paramount settled with the states in September. CBS News reported the key commitments: a pledge of 30 films a year for the first two years after the merger, and a five-year bar on selling or closing either company’s Los Angeles studio lot. The WGA settled once the states did. A federal judge approved the settlement, and the deal closed on October 6.
What it means for Warner Bros. movies and DC
For moviegoers, the most concrete promise is volume. The new owners’ staff memo commits to “at least 30 movies a year” across both studios, naming Harry Potter, DC, The Lord of the Rings, Mission: Impossible, Star Trek and Transformers among the franchises. The memo also says both studios “will continue to operate under their own names,” so the Warner Bros. shield will still open Warner films.
Variety reports that the combined film business is run by Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein, formerly co-chairs of Paramount Pictures, while James Gunn and Peter Safran continue as co-heads of DC Studios. That continuity matters for the rebooted DC slate that began with Superman; our Superman timeline for the new DC Universe and guide to watching the DC movies in order show where that slate stands. Skydance is also targeting $6 billion in cost savings, and Ellison and Kreiz warned staff that integration will bring “difficult decisions that affect our workforce.”
What happens to HBO Max
Nothing changes on day one: HBO Max and Paramount+ remain separate services. The longer-term plan is a merger of the two. On a March investor call, Ellison said, “We do plan to put the two services together, which today gives us a little over 200 million direct-to-consumer subscribers.” No name, price or launch date for a combined service has been announced. HBO’s programming chief Casey Bloys stays on, as co-chair and chief content officer of Skydance’s streaming business, according to Variety.
The two catalogs are complementary on paper. NBC News summed it up as Paramount+ bringing Star Trek and Taylor Sheridan’s shows, and HBO Max bringing Game of Thrones, the Batman films and recent hits such as Sinners. If you are deciding what to watch before anything moves, our list of the best shows on HBO Max right now is a starting point.
What did not change
CNN keeps Mark Thompson as chief executive, and CBS News is part of the same company, with an editorial board meant to protect both newsrooms’ independence under the state settlement. Warner Bros. Discovery’s shares stopped trading on Nasdaq, and Skydance stock now trades on the New York Stock Exchange as SKYD.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who owns Warner Bros. now?
Skydance Corp., the company formed when Paramount Skydance completed its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on October 6 this year. David Ellison and Ynon Kreiz are co-CEOs.
Did Netflix buy Warner Bros.?
No. Netflix agreed in December 2025 to buy Warner Bros. and HBO, but it declined to match Paramount’s higher offer in February and withdrew. Paramount then signed a $110 billion deal for all of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Is HBO Max going away?
Not yet. HBO Max and Paramount+ still operate separately. David Ellison has said the company plans to combine the two services, but no name, price or date has been announced.
Will Warner Bros. still make movies under its own name?
Yes. The new owners say both Paramount and Warner Bros. will keep operating under their own names and logos, and they have committed to at least 30 films a year across the company.
What happens to DC Studios?
James Gunn and Peter Safran continue as co-heads of DC Studios under Skydance, according to Variety’s report on the new leadership team.
Sources
- Timeline of Paramount Acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery — Variety, October 6, 2026
- Paramount closes $110 billion deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, creating Skydance — CBS News, October 6, 2026
- Done Deal: Paramount Completes Warner Bros. Takeover, Creating Hollywood Giant — The Hollywood Reporter, October 6, 2026
- Paramount Skydance plans to merge Paramount+ and HBO Max platforms — NBC News, March 2, 2026