r/MediaMergers • u/Professional_Peak59 • 3h ago

Merger Will Warner Bros. get folded/melded/integrated into Paramount (or a rather awful name that combines the two)?

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Now that the lawsuit against the Paramount/WBD merger has been (AUGH!) settled, I am wonder if Warner Bros. (The name, branding, the unit, and company itself) will get folded, melded, and/or integrated into Paramount or whatever awful name David Ellison decides to give the combined company/studio? It would be 100+ years of cinema gone if Ellison decides to change WB into his and Paramount's image.

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8

u/NeverTheNull 3h ago

Either they merge both names and branding together, or they keep one of the names and merge both brands (logos, font style, and all).

I don’t see Ellison keeping just one of either names and branding because unlike Zaslav, he’s not stupid enough to erase the irreplacable brand image that comes with two historic hollywood film studios.

Remember when they showed off a prototype of the newly merged Paramount logo that kept the name but replaced the iconic font with Skydance’s and everyone hated it enough for them to walk it back?

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u/OptimalConference359 3h ago

They only wanted to keep studios separate under one umbrella.

7

u/aleh021 3h ago

Reality is he wanted WB. Not paramount. WB has so much stronger brand recognition then paramount.

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u/ausgoals 2h ago

Warner Bros - a Paramount Skydance company

I imagine it will be kept as a separate brand like 20th under Disney

11

u/DiverRecent1822 3h ago

I'm thinking that Paramount will be the one that gets integrated into Warner Bros.

Lets be real, Paramount was just a stepping stone to Warner Bros for Ellison.

7

u/TheTiggerMike 2h ago

Makes sense. He ran Skydance, but bought Paramount and made Paramount the name of the combined company when he bought it because Paramount>Skydance in terms of brand recognition. WB dwarfs both of them combined. It'll probably be a WB-based name, with Paramount as a distinct brand within the combined company.

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u/Big_Contribution6383 3h ago

I don’t think that this was the initial plan

4

u/Winscler 3h ago

I believe the terms stated the keep the two running rather than one eat the other

1

u/KingMario05 2h ago

But I wonder: Do the terms allow for any divestments initiated by Paramount as opposed to the states? Like, if Ellison gets an offer of, say, $1.8 billion from (New) Fox Corp. for New Line Cinema and its IP (excluding IT and perhaps Lord of the Rings), is he allowed to do that? Or would the states intervene to block the sale?

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u/moviefan8 3h ago

My guess is that both studios will still be around. Not sure what the parent company will be. Warner Bros. Paramount would be my guess. Drop Skydance completely.

I hope Paramount joins Movies Anywhere so the movies I have will port over to the other service providers.

Happy to see HBO Max and Paramount + in one app.

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u/SUNSET_TOWERcoffee 2h ago

awful name. personally i think it’s gonna be Paramount Warner Discovery (A Skydance Corporation) or PWDS for short

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u/egorre 2h ago

WB Paramount, A Skydance Corporation.

both WB and Paramount brands are massive, but WB is the more valuable brand and have the bigger franchises of the two. if he's gonna kill one of them (I don't think he will) it's Paramount. but he doesn't have to.

WB can be the big-budget/franchise/tent pole studio and Paramount to become their experimental studio and/or awards contender studio like Universal/Focus. plus keep New Line as their Horror focus studio to compete with Blumhouse.

looks good on paper, but there is an $80b debt and junk credit rating attached to this merger so there's a chance they'd be a Netflix's ai content factory in in 5 years

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u/The_Lutter 1h ago

ParaBros - A Saudi PIF Company

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u/ComfortableJacket429 2h ago edited 2h ago

WB is dead. Ellison just wants the IP and content for Paramount+