Battle far from over after Paramount and Warner Bros deal creates new global entertainment powerhouse

“It feels like the calm before the storm,” says an executive at Skydance, the newly minted media empire formed from the megamerger of Paramount and Warner Bros Discovery (WBD). “David has got what he wanted, but now there is a price to pay.”

Earlier this month, David Ellison, Skydance’s chief executive, sealed the $110bn (£82bn) deal, creating a global powerhouse spanning two Hollywood studios each more than a century old, the TV networks HBO, MTV and Discovery, and news outlets CBS and CNN.