David Ellison's Skydance Media is taking over Paramount Global with a $8 billion investment, capping a seven-month quest.
The exec, along with others from Skydance and its main backer, RedBird Capital, outlined their strategy during a nearly one-hour investor call this morning. The call followed an announcement late Sunday and approval earlier in the day from Paramount’s board of directors. The two-step transaction will see Skydance acquire Shari Redstone's National Amusements, Paramount's controlling shareholder, ahead of a full merger.
The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2025, the companies said. It will put gold-plated media assets, including CBS, Nickelodeon and Paramount Pictures in new hands for the first time since the 1980s. Redstone took the helm of Paramount after her late father, Sumner Redstone, built it into an entertainment mainstay that has faltered in the streaming age.>>>Cost Reductions Ahead
More:
Skydance Deal Will Help Paramount “Double Down On Core Competency” And Embrace Technology, David Ellison Tells Investors
Skydance On Cost Cuts, Streaming Partnerships & Big Breakup Fee If Another Buyer “Comes Out Of The Woodwork” For Paramount
Linear TV Will Remain “A Strong Business For Decades To Come,” Paramount President-To-Be Jeff Shell Says
Shari Redstone Tells Staff That Skydance Has “Resources To Build On Paramount Global’s Competitive Advantages”
Paramount Global Co-CEOs Tell Staff “It’s Business As Usual” Until Skydance Deal Closes |
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| Deadline Exclusives & Originals |
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Bruckheimer & Kosinski Talk 'F1' - The film's producer and director speak exclusively with Deadline about the challenges of bringing Formula 1 racing to the big screen, lessons learned from Top Gun: Maverick and rumors about the film's budget. >>>Q&A
Sundance In The Land Of Lakes? - Leading with a tagline of “You Could’n’t Cast A Better Location,” Minnesota’s most populous metropolis is among the select jurisdictions that have submitted a detailed bid for the Robert Redford founded film festival. With CEOs from Target, Best Buy and the parent company of U.S. Bank backing Minneapolis’ proposal, the host committee is promising at least $2 million annually “to sustain and grow the festival.” >>> "Has Outgrown Park City"
Damon Lindelof: Biden Has Got To Go - The creative powerhouse (and lifelong Democrat) pleads with other donors to stop writing checks to the Biden campaign and "wake the f*ck up." >>>Guest Column
5 Asks Of The UK's New Government - Labour’s Keir Starmer is about to select a new culture secretary after shadow elect Thangam Debbonaire’s shock loss to the Green Party, and the incumbent’s in tray will be full to bursting. Here’s what Deadline believes the industry will be asking for. >>>Tax Credits & More
Jon Landau In His Own Words - A conversation with the recently deceased Oscar-winner from February 2023 covering his career on the occasion of the restored 3D 4K theatrical rerelease of Titanic. What better way to celebrate Landau than to hear from the man himself. >>>Watch |
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War always has its heartbreaking casualties, and the epic battle that ensued at the end of Sunday’s episode of the Game of Thrones spinoff was no exception: fans had to watch a key character perish after a spectacular dance between two dragons.
Here, the latest denizen of Westeros to meet her maker talks about those final moments, and what she’ll miss most about playing a towheaded royal in a violent world. >>>Read The Interview |
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Exclusive
Sara Tomko (Resident Alien) and Terry Farrell (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) are attached to lead the cast in the genre feature The Glass Mind.
Exclusive
Essence Atkins (First Wives Club), Melissa Ponzio (Chicago Fire) and Vaughn W. Hebron (The Oval) have signed onto recurring roles in Season 2 of Onyx Collective's Reasonable Doubt. |
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More News 🗳️ President Joe Biden called into MSNBC's Morning Joe this morning and said he's "not going anywhere" despite calls for him to drop out of the presidential campaign.
📺 Nielsen fast national numbers show that George Stephanopoulos’ interview with President Joe Biden on ABC easily won its timeslot on Friday, drawing 8.5 million viewers.
💰 Warner Bros. Discovery, which was formed in 2022 from the merger of AT&T’s WarnerMedia and Discovery Communications, has agreed to pay $125 million to settle a shareholder lawsuit over the deal.
✊ The left wing New Popular Front (NFP) alliance triumphed in the second round of France’s snap parliamentary elections on Sunday, with the far right National Rally (RN) party coming in third, according to first exit polls released immediately after voting closed. |
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On the Radar
Mon - Scarlett Johansson on Fallon
Tue - Alec Baldwin trial begins
Wed - TCA kicks off; Gretchen Whitmer on Colbert
Thu - ESPYs; Jake Tapper on Colbert
Fri - TCA Awards
Sat - Wimbledon Women's Final
Sun - Wimbledon Men's Final |
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Obituaries
🕯️ Jon Landau, the Oscar-winning producer and COO of James Cameron‘s Lightstorm Entertainment, died July 5 in Los Angeles after a 16-month-long battle with cancer. Landau produced Titanic, Avatar, Avatar: The Way of Water, Solaris and many more. He was 63. 🕯️ Buzz Cason , the Nashville singer, songwriter and producer best known for “Everlasting Love,” the buoyant Motown-style pop song, died June 16 at his home in Franklin, Tennessee. He was 84. 🕯️ UK comedian Tony Knight, also known as the Dog Listener, has died after a freak accident at a festival in France. The 54-year-old Knight was struck and killed by a large falling tree branch in June at the Rock & Cars fest. 🕯️ Laurie Lindeen , who blazed a trail in the grunge era as a guitarist with indie rockers Zuzu’s Petals and later chronicled the experience in a book, died Monday at 62 in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, of a brain aneurysm. 🕯️ Judy Belushi-Pisano, who was married to comedian John Belushi and had her own career as an actress and producer, has died at 73. 🕯️ Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2024: Photo Gallery & Obituaries |
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Super Friends - Shawn Levy, Ryan Reynolds, Emma Corrin, Hugh Jackman and Wendy Jacobson over the weekend kicked off what is sure to be a sustained Deadpool & Wolverine publicity blitz with, among other things, a fan event in Berlin. |
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