Skydance Shuffle: Ellison Names the Combined Company After His Own Studio, Sends Abdy and De Luca Packing

David Ellison has told his staff that the merged entertainment company will be called Skydance, the name of the studio he founded 20 years ago. The move comes as Ellison prepares to take control of Warner Bros. Discovery next week, completing a deal that brings together Paramount, Warner Bros., HBO and the rest of the combined company under one corporate roof.

Ellison addressed his troops in a memo obtained by Variety, explaining that the new name preserves the identity of both studios rather than overshadowing them. “As we bring Paramount and Warner Bros. together, we wanted to preserve what has made each of these studios iconic,” he wrote. “Both have distinct identities, extraordinary legacies and brands that have resonated with audiences for generations.”

The Memo Explains Itself

Ellison’s memo goes further than the headline suggests. He explains that he chose the name Skydance for his own studio two decades ago because it represented “limitless possibility” and his love of flight, which he says is another name for aerobatic flying. The company’s original logo, he says, featured each letter of Skydance representing a planet revolving around the sun.

He framed the name as a nod to the scale of cinema itself. “That sense of scale, discovery and ambition feels especially fitting for what we are building today,” he wrote.

Who Is Out and Who Stays In

The memo also signals major personnel shifts. Pamela Abdy and Michael De Luca, heads of the Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, are out, Variety confirmed late Thursday night. Insiders said the decision shocked them, though one power player with knowledge of the duo remarked that if they were surprised, “they’re the only ones.”

Their exit ends one of the biggest question marks hanging over the deal. Today is thought to be their last day on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank.

Meanwhile, Paramount Pictures leaders Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein are being elevated to an expansive creative post, multiple sources tell Variety. They will oversee heads of individual film labels across both companies, including New Line stalwart Richard Brener.

Cindy Holland exited this week as Paramount+ streaming head, leaving Casey Bloys as the presumptive ruler of all streaming at Skydance. The company has not made anything official yet.

The Talent Reach-In

Dealmaking is already underway. Goldberg and Greenstein have been reaching out to key talent at Warner Bros., including Margot Robbie and her LuckyChap partners, to establish continuity. Another knowledgeable source said that wheels are already turning to lock in a sequel to Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie,” which previously flatlined over costs.

There is a note of confidence attached to that sequel. “There’s no way ‘Barbie 2’ doesn’t happen,” said the source.

Ellison has also tapped former Mattel CEO Ynon Kriez to be the co-CEO at the new combined company.

What This Means for the Industry

The shuffle is significant for Hollywood. Ellison is consolidating power across film, television and streaming, with Paramount and Warner Bros. operating as distinct labels under the Skydance umbrella. The memo promises that both studios will “grow, tell more great stories and bring those stories to even broader audiences around the world, powered by the scale and capabilities of Skydance.”

But the memo also frames the name change as a preservation effort. “We never wanted a new corporate identity to diminish, alter or overshadow either one,” Ellison wrote. “Instead, we wanted a name that would give the combined company an identity of its own while allowing Paramount and Warner Bros. — and all our extraordinary brands — to remain in the spotlight.”

Our Take on the Shuffle

The memo is a statement of intent from Ellison. He wants everyone to understand that the brands survive the merger, even as the corporate structure changes. But the name Skydance makes that promise feel strangely hollow, since the new identity is literally the old one.

The personnel moves are the real story. Abdy and De Luca’s exit is a significant development, and their surprise at the decision suggests they did not see it coming. Goldberg and Greenstein’s elevation is a win for Paramount, giving them expanded creative control across both companies.

The “Barbie 2” note is notable. A sequel to Gerwig’s film was previously flatlining over costs, but the source’s certainty suggests the project is moving forward. That would be a significant win for Skydance.

The irony of Ellison’s name choice is hard to miss. He is renaming the combined company after the studio he founded 20 years ago, a move that preserves Paramount and Warner Bros. identities… by making them subservient to his own brand. It is a clever pivot, but it is also a strange one.

Ellison has built his career on consolidation, and this merger is the culmination of that strategy. He is now positioned to lead one of the largest entertainment companies in the world, with a name that ties everything back to himself. The memo is worth reading in full, because it captures Ellison’s thinking in his own words. He talks about scale, discovery and ambition, and he ties all of it back to the name he chose two decades ago. It is a reminder that names matter in this business, even if the logic behind this one is circular.

The industry will be watching closely. The closing of the merger next week will mark a new era for Hollywood, and Ellison has made it clear that Skydance is the name of that era. Whether that name holds any meaning beyond his own legacy is a question only time can answer.

Key Figures in the Merger

Source material: “Skydance Shuffle: David Ellison Addresses Troops About New Name, Says Adieu to Mike and Pam and Sets Table for ‘Barbie 2’,” Variety.

Barbie 2 · David Ellison · Hollywood · Paramount · Skydance · Warner Bros