Paramount-Warner Bros. Reveals 'Skydance' as New Name

David Ellison named the merged Paramount-Warner Bros. "Skydance," fueling reports HBO Max and Paramount+ will merge into one service.

David Ellison announced on X — in the first post from a newly created account — that the soon-to-merge Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery company will be called simply 'Skydance,' adopting the name of his original production company. According to Variety, the $110 billion-plus deal is set to close on October 6, combining two of Hollywood's biggest movie studios, the HBO Max and Paramount+ streaming services, and TV businesses including CBS, CNN, MTV, TBS and Comedy Central. The company will move its stock from Nasdaq to the New York Stock Exchange on October 6 and change its ticker from 'PSKY' to 'SKYD,' per Variety's report of an SEC filing also cited by TheWrap.

Industry watchers had playfully dubbed the pending combination 'ParaBros' and 'WarnerMount,' but Variety notes no one expected either moniker to stick — and few predicted Ellison would revive his own company's name for a century-old conglomerate. Ellison argued the choice preserves both studios' identities, writing that Paramount and Warner Bros. have 'distinct identities, extraordinary legacies and brands.' Still, 9to5Mac reports skeptical reader pushback: commenters note Skydance functions like a holding company and warn that dropping the HBO name from the streaming service would repeat Warner Bros.' earlier Max rebrand mistake.

For streamers, the stakes are enormous. Per CNBC reporting cited by 9to5Mac, Ellison said earlier this year that Paramount+ and HBO Max would be combined into a single service, which would hold roughly 200 million subscribers based on existing totals. Ellison told investors 'HBO should stay HBO,' and a person familiar with Paramount's plans told CNBC that HBO is likely to become a sub-brand within the larger service. Neither pricing nor an official name for the combined streamer has been announced, though 9to5Mac argues the Skydance branding makes that name a strong candidate.

The merger's final obstacle fell when a judge approved a settlement between Paramount and 12 state attorneys general who had sued to block the deal, as reported by WBZ NewsRadio. Variety reports Ellison prevailed after a yearlong campaign that included outbidding Netflix, which had an agreement to buy Warner Bros.' streaming and studios businesses. According to Fandom Pulse, Ellison had set an October 1 deadline threatening to relocate Paramount out of California, a threat tied to an estimated $500 million in annual tax savings, and the settlement arrived before that deadline passed.

Variety reports the new Skydance will carry debt projected to be north of $80 billion, funded in part by about $42.4 billion in bond issuance and roughly $24 billion in commitments from the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE, which the company says will own 38.5% of the combined entity. Larry Ellison has personally guaranteed $46.7 billion in equity financing. Leadership is shifting fast: Variety and Fandom Pulse both report HBO chief Casey Bloys will oversee the combined streaming business as Paramount streaming head Cindy Holland steps down, while Ynon Kreiz joins as co-CEO and Warner film chiefs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy are expected to depart.

No timeline has been communicated for actually merging HBO Max and Paramount+ into one service, but 9to5Mac notes details could arrive as soon as next week once the merger closes on October 6. WBZ NewsRadio reports Ellison has pledged to keep Paramount and Warner Bros. as standalone studios releasing 30 movies annually in theaters, even as the merger drives significant cuts from duplicated operations. Fandom Pulse frames the open question for streaming subscribers: whether keeping both studio identities under one parent preserves what made each distinct, or whether a corporate rebrand is just the first step toward a true single-service consolidation.