Paramount, Warner Bros. to Keep Separate Film Slates, Memo Says

Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures will keep making and releasing their movies separately, each under its own name and logo, according to a Day 1 memo from Skydance Motion Picture Group co-chairs Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein. The memo went to staff at both studios on Tuesday as the Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery merger became official, Deadline reported, and Variety published the full text.

“Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures will continue to build and release their slate of films separately, under those brands,” the executives wrote. “This means that each Warner Bros. Pictures or Paramount Pictures film you see will carry its respective logo. They are the cornerstone labels and will remain the homes for our largest commercial and filmmaker-driven projects.”

The memo also lays out the rest of the film structure. DC Studios, New Line Cinema and Paramount Primal “will continue as distinct labels with specific mandates,” Goldberg and Greenstein wrote, while animation and specialty labels, including Republic Pictures and Warner Bros. Clockwork, “will also operate independently.” Deadline reported that keeping the legacies of both studios alive is among the pair’s priorities.

The two describe themselves as “stewards of two of the most storied studios in Hollywood history,” and much of the memo is about moviegoing. “At the heart of that legacy is a simple belief that movies are best seen together, on a big screen,” they wrote, adding that Skydance chairman and CEO David Ellison “is making one of the biggest investments in its future.”

They did not promise that nothing will change. “We won’t pretend a combination of this size comes without change,” the memo says. “We know you will have questions, and we will respond to as many as we can, though we won’t be able to answer everything today.” They added that in the months ahead they will spend time with teams at both studios, “listening, learning and sharing updates along the way.” Variety reported that the note followed a Tuesday morning memo from Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz that acknowledged layoffs will be part of integrating the two companies. “We are committed to handling this process thoughtfully and respectfully,” Ellison and Kreiz wrote, according to Variety.

Goldberg and Greenstein previously co-chaired Paramount Pictures, Variety noted. Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group heads Pamela Abdy and Michael De Luca are not joining the new company, the outlet added. Deadline reported that a more immediate priority for Goldberg and Greenstein, who have been working to put Paramount’s film unit on firmer financial footing, is getting a closer look at how Warner Bros. operates.

The roughly $110 billion merger closed on Tuesday, and shares of the combined company, Skydance, began trading on the New York Stock Exchange the same day, Deadline reported. The memo ends with a promise to “make movies that entertain and endure” and the sign-off “Long live the movies.” For more studio news, visit our Studio page.

Verification: The memo’s contents and the executives’ priorities come from Deadline (Tom Tapp and Anthony D’Alessandro, Oct. 6) and Variety (Payton Turkeltaub, Oct. 6), which both obtained the memo. Details about the Ellison–Kreiz layoff note are from Variety, and the merger close is from Deadline’s Oct. 6 report.