UPDATE 7: “There will be changes, and there will be impacts,” Ellison told employees at Skydance’s first town hall.
UPDATE 6: Ellison and Kreiz confirm it to staff in their Day One memo: integration brings “difficult decisions that affect our workforce.”
UPDATE 5: It’s done. The merger is complete, and the clock on the kumbaya phase officially starts.
UPDATE 4: The ax has a name. Insiders say Ynon Kreiz was brought in to save $6-7 billion, with layoffs coming in waves.
UPDATE 3: Paramount’s internal streaming plans are out, and a veteran WBD streaming employee sees an internal “war of the tech stacks” coming.
UPDATE 2: Deadline now hears the same from inside Warner Bros.: staffers say it “feels like a scramble,” and they’re blaming Supergirl.
UPDATE: The wild stretch is underway, with Semafor reporting Paramount execs have discussed asking Elon Musk to buy in as an equity investor.
The lawsuit is settled, and the merger is expected to close by early October.
Cosmic Book News‘ Paramount insiders checked in on what happens next.
“As foretold, Paramount wins big. Merger approved. Next 6-12 months are gonna be wild,” the insiders said. They also pointed at the fine print in the settlement’s movie pledge, which is its own story.
Inside Warner Bros., the mood is a different one.
The insiders describe it as “panic.”
‘Expect 3-6 Months Of Kumbaya Before The Ax Falls’
Per the insiders, plenty of people at WBD were rooting for the lawsuit: “Many hoped this would drag out for months/years.”
Instead it ended Monday, and now, “many people” are “looking for an exit.”
“They know cuts are coming, either RIF or ‘contract expired,'” the insiders said.
RIF is corporate for “reduction in force,” short for layoffs.
“Contract expired” is the quieter version, where deals simply don’t get renewed.
It won’t happen right away: “Expect 3-6 months of kumbaya we all love each other at ParaBros before the ax falls.”
The companies have already told investors the merger means $6 billion in savings, with cost cuts expected across Hollywood and the CNN and CBS newsrooms.
Variety reports the mood at CNN is “like a funeral.”
“Lots of people sending out resumes,” the insiders added. “It sucks but these mergers always cut 1000s of jobs.”
‘Completely Different By Summer 2027’
The settlement came wrapped in Hollywood promises: the studios stay separate for now, and $300 million more a year gets spent making movies in the U.S.
Hours after the settlement was announced, David Ellison put out a statement: “Let me be clear: the newly merged company will be headquartered in Los Angeles. We aren’t going anywhere.”
“Our history is here and this is where our future is being built,” Ellison continued.
Keeping the headquarters in California isn’t in the settlement, per TheWrap. What the deal locks in is the two studio lots for five years, the headquarters promise is Ellison’s own.
The insiders’ read: “‘We’re staying in Hollywood!’ blah blahā¦ but there’s nothing wrong with moving ‘some functions’ to TN.”
That matches what the same sources told CBN on August 25, that Tennessee is the “final destination, not Texas,” and “it’ll take years, but it will happen.”
Three weeks later, Politico reported Paramount was touring Nashville sites for a 400,000-square-foot headquarters.
Now those sources are giving a date for the rest of it: “Wild 6-12 months, ParaBros will look completely different by summer 2027.”
The kumbaya phase starts now.
