Paramount, Warner Bros. will be named Skydance after merger - Los Angeles Times

John Oliver made a couple of jokey references to his new corporate parent on Sunday's Last Week Tonight. Oliver did not address Skydance's acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, owner of Last Week Tonight's network home, HBO, on last week's episode. But he did slip in a couple of quips about Skydance, which also acquired Paramount last year, on Sunday's edition. More from The Hollywood ReporterDuring his main segment, which was about generic medications, Oliver brought up the U. S. Food and Drug Administration's inspection of the overseas companies that produce these drugs. "You should know while surprise FDA inspections are common for U. S. factories, most FDA inspections done overseas are actually announced beforehand, allowing manufacturers to both prepare for them and potentially hide any issues," he explained. "In fact, one study found that the odds of a facility receiving the most severe inspection outcome are over 250 percent higher for unannounced inspections, which just makes sense, doesn't it? You clean up when you know people are coming over. "Oliver then made a joke about the studio his own show tapes in.

Matthew Dolgin, senior equity analyst at Morningstar, joins BNN Bloomberg to discuss how the Paramount settlement clears a major hurdle for the Warner deal. Paramount Skydance on Tuesday completed its blockbuster US$110 billion takeover of Warner Bros Discovery, creating a Hollywood heavyweight that hands CEO David Ellison control of one of the world’s largest entertainment and news businesses. The deal brings together the studios behind “Mission: Impossible,” “Harry Potter” and DC Studios alongside major television and streaming networks such as CBS, CNN, Paramount+ and HBO Max — forming an expansive entertainment company spanning film, TV and news.

By naming the product of two mergers Skydance, David Ellison relegates two of Hollywood’s founding studios to a sub-brand stew and attempts to erase a bunch of controversial hires. What a surprise. David Ellison has decided to name the Frankenstudio media company created by the merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery simply Skydance. And why not? “Massive Debt Funding Media” doesn’t really roll off the tongue (though “Ultra Leveraged” has a nice ring); “Ellison and Dad” is a bit too on the nose; and “Skydance” is, after all, the name he chose for the one company out of those four that he built rather than bought. Skydance is a poetic term with some definite “Star Wars” overtones and perhaps unintentional symbolism. Before the aviation-loving Ellison claimed it, “sky dance” referred to the aerial mating of certain birds, most famously the American woodcock, also known as the timberdoodle or (I’m not making this up) the bogsucker. (“Timberdoodle Media,” now that’s a splendid name, and “Bogsucker Productions” could work as well.)In his attempts to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, Ellison has certainly engaged in some high-flying …

The conglomerate resulting from the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger will be called Skydance, chairman and CEO David Ellison announced today. The name comes from Ellison's own film production company, Skydance Media, that was founded in 2006. The merger faced lawsuits from U. S. states, which have since been settled, as well as criticism from members of the entertainment industry. It is now expected to close on Oct. 6, finalizing the union of two of America's most storied movie studios, along with their fair share of subsidiaries and IP, from HBO Max and Paramount+ to the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings franchises. Ellison shared a video on X showcasing the many assets Skydance would own, including film and production companies, well-known TV channels, and IP.