Paramount May Have Landed Warner Bros., Now Comes The Baggage

It took months of effort, lobbying and mounds of rate for Paramount Skydance to yet clinch its prize of Warner Bros. Discovery.

Now, however, nan David Ellison-led institution faces a agelong and challenging roadworthy to merge these 2 media giants and group it up for a successful future.

Key to that will beryllium striking a delicate balancing enactment betwixt finance and paying down its indebtedness load of $79 billion, which is monolithic moreover by Hollywood standards.

Notably, nan fig is moreover greater than Warner’s astir $55 cardinal of indebtedness post-merger pinch Discovery, a load that hamstrung nan institution for years and led to successive rounds of layoffs and relentless costs cutting.

Last week, my workfellow Meg James wrote astir nan concerns Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings have astir Paramount’s credit, fixed nan upland of indebtedness nan institution will now carry. Fitch downgraded its in installments to BB+ — “junk” territory — from BBB-, and S&P Global Ratings placed nan company’s ratings connected “negative watch.”

Carrying that magnitude of indebtedness comes pinch important risks.

For one, a institution pinch a batch of indebtedness that is “junk”-rated is going to beryllium nether unit to trim costs. “Junk status” intends a company’s indebtedness is rated beneath nan level that in installments agencies see finance grade. Such a standing intends it tin beryllium much costly to refinance aliases return retired caller loans, raising nan costs of capital.

Paramount executives person already said they scheme to find $6 cardinal successful “synergies” wrong 3 years, though they’ve emphasized that nan mostly of their costs cutting will travel from “non-labor sources,” including consolidating their streaming exertion and unreality providers, combining IT systems crossed nan institution and “optimizing nan mixed existent property footprint and nan broader firm overhead,” among different ideas.

And as I wrote past week, astir Hollywood observers and those acquainted pinch Ellison’s plans foretell that Paramount will beryllium forced make steep layoffs to offset nan costs of nan woody and destruct overlapping roles and functions betwixt nan 2 historical studios.

At nan aforesaid time, successful bid to compete pinch well-funded rivals, Paramount-Warner Bros. will besides request to put successful caller programming — thing that tin beryllium difficult for a heavy leveraged business .

Paramount executives person said their cost-cutting efforts won’t see a simplification successful accumulation capacity, and Ellison has reiterated that location will beryllium continued spending connected programming. Beyond content, he’ll besides apt request to put successful improving nan exertion on pinch nan look and consciousness of nan streaming platforms.

“Whether aliases not they person nan superior to do each of that and to effort to get their leverage down is thing I’m funny to perceive about,” said Naveen Sarma of S&P Global Ratings.

It’s imaginable that Paramount whitethorn not beryllium capable to prosecute a bully opportunity successful nan early because it has utilized up each its indebtedness capacity and can’t raise further financing, said Kelly Shue, a professor of finance astatine Yale School of Management.

“It mightiness origin them to underinvest successful bully projects successful nan future,” she said.

And nan institution needs to walk connected bully projects.

The economics of this woody hinge connected nan mixed heft of Paramount and Warner’s 2 libraries and valuable intelligence property, which will merge Harry Potter, DC Studios, SpongeBob SquarePants and “Mission Impossible” each nether 1 roof.

Building up its streaming platform, which will combine Paramount+ pinch HBO Max, is important for competing pinch nan behemoth Netflix, which bowed retired of nan Warner Bros. auction.

And connected nan theatrical side, Ellison has said nan mixed institution will merchandise 30 films a twelvemonth — 15 from each studio. That would beryllium a important summation from 2025, erstwhile nan 2 companies released 18 films — 8 astatine Paramount and 10 from Warner Bros.

“While studios contented budgets mightiness not travel nether contiguous attraction for costs cutting, we person a difficult clip seeing nary contented costs savings considering opportunities to reallocate aliases propulsion backmost from astatine slightest nan linear networks,” MoffettNathanson’s Robert Fishman wrote successful a statement to clients past week.

Of course, each of this would travel only aft nan deal’s completion. On nan contiguous horizon, Paramount needs to unafraid world regulatory support arsenic good arsenic astatine home. Although authorities attorneys wide including Rob Bonta of California person said this is not a “done deal,” astir analysts expect that immoderate guidance location is only apt to slow — not extremity — nan transaction.

A very masculine twelvemonth successful film

A caller study from San Diego State University put a number connected thing we each suspected: The percent of female protagonists successful nan apical 100 films past twelvemonth dropped. A lot.

Female protagonists made up conscionable 29% of nan top-grossing films successful 2025, down from 42% successful 2024, according to nan university’s yearly study of women’s practice successful apical films. A action of movie titles from nan past twelvemonth says it all: “The Running Man,” “A Working Man,” “Superman.”

That 29% fig has, unfortunately, been very accordant complete nan years — it was nan aforesaid successful 2016 and has mostly hovered successful nan scope of precocious 20s to debased 30s for nan past decade, pinch a fewer exceptions (40% successful 2019 and 42% successful 2024).

Focusing connected conscionable nan protagonists successful nan apical 100 films intends that mini fluctuations tin alteration that percent greatly.

But erstwhile nan study looked astatine a broader sample size of nan much than 1,900 characters successful those films, nan results weren’t overmuch better.

The percent of women successful speaking roles was 38%, up conscionable 1% from 2024. And nan percent of awesome female characters declined to 36% successful 2025 from 39% nan twelvemonth before.

The truth that these figures person not moved much, successful spite of nan countless panels and deliberation pieces astir nan issue, suggests location isn’t overmuch will successful Hollywood to change, said Martha Lauzen, writer of nan study and laminitis and executive head of San Diego State’s Center for nan Study of Women successful Television and Film.

“Representation is societal relevancy and societal capital,” she told me. “So erstwhile you spot less women than men, that’s a message.”

Stuff We Wrote

Film shoots

Number of nan week

Walt Disney Co. and Pixar’s “Hoppers” came successful big astatine nan container agency this weekend pinch a $46-million opening successful nan U.S. and Canada — nan strongest home debut for an original animated movie since “Coco” successful 2017. Globally, nan movie made $88 million.

The reception is an encouraging motion for original animated movies, which person largely struggled astatine nan container office since nan COVID-19 pandemic while their sequel counterparts person shined.

What I’m watching

Several months ago, immoderate friends and I started a movie club, wherever we each nominate a movie we want to watch and we rotate who gets to make nan last selection. Last week, we watched nan 1996 drama “First Wives Club,” which I had ne'er seen but loved for its goofy antics, unexpected song-and-dance number and nan attraction connected nan enduring powerfulness of female friendships.