Paramount Officially Confirms Rights to 22 Film Franchises With $55 Billion+ in Combined Box Office

Hollywood’s biggest merger is almost complete, and David Ellison wants everyone to know what he is getting. On October 2, 2026, the Paramount Skydance CEO shared a flashy video montage on X, along with an official graphic showing every brand that will fall under one roof once Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery officially combine.

The list is massive. On the TV and streaming side, the new company will control CBS, CNN, HBO and HBO Max, Paramount+, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, Cartoon Network, and Adult Swim. DC Studios is also part of the package.

But the real headline is the film library. Between the two studios, the combined company will hold the keys to at least 22 famous franchises. Together, these properties have earned well over $55 billion at the worldwide box office. Here is a closer look at every franchise and how much each has made.

Every Franchise Under Paramount-WB and Their Box Office

Paramount and Warner Bros. bring very different strengths to the table. Paramount adds big action names like Mission: Impossible, Transformers, Star Trek, and A Quiet Place. Nickelodeon favorites like SpongeBob SquarePants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Dora the Explorer also join the movie library.

Warner Bros. brings the heavy hitters, including DC, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, The Conjuring, and classic Looney Tunes characters. It also holds distribution rights to Dune, Minecraft, and Legendary’s MonsterVerse. Here is how every franchise stacks up:

Franchise	Worldwide Box Office	Highest-Grossing Movie
DC Comics	$16.5 billion+	Aquaman (2018)
Harry Potter (Wizarding World)	$9.6 billion	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
The Lord of the Rings	$5.95 billion	The Return of the King
Transformers	$5.42 billion	Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Mission: Impossible	$4.74 billion	Mission: Impossible – Fallout
The Conjuring	$2.77 billion	The Conjuring: Last Rites
MonsterVerse (distribution rights)	$2.52 billion	Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
Star Trek	$2.27 billion	Star Trek Into Darkness
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles	$1.33 billion	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)
Dune (distribution rights)	$1.15 billion	Dune: Part Two
Minecraft (distribution rights)	$958 million	A Minecraft Movie
A Quiet Place	$900 million	A Quiet Place
SpongeBob SquarePants	$625.7 million	The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water
Beetlejuice	$526.5 million	Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Looney Tunes	$480 million+	Space Jam
Mortal Kombat	$387.5 million	Mortal Kombat II (2026)
Avatar: The Last Airbender	$319.7 million	The Last Airbender
Gremlins	$195 million	Gremlins
Tom & Jerry	$140 million	Tom & Jerry (2021)
Dora the Explorer	$120.6 million	Dora and the Lost City of Gold
Citizen Kane	$1.6 million	Citizen Kane
Game of Thrones	N/A	N/A

DC sits comfortably at the top, thanks to decades of Batman and Superman films, along with the DCEU and James Gunn’s new DCU. Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and Transformers each pass the $5 billion mark.

David Ellison Combines Paramount and WB as Skydance

David Ellison’s video came with another big reveal. Once the deal closes, the merged company will simply be called Skydance. Ellison announced the name in his first-ever post on X, with the deal expected to close the following week. The company will also trade under the new stock ticker SKYD.

— David Ellison (@ellisonskydance) October 2, 2026

The choice is a personal one. Ellison founded Skydance Productions back in 2006, and the company later became Skydance Media. In August 2025, Skydance completed its takeover of Paramount, creating Paramount Skydance. Now, the same name will cover both studios.

Ellison explained in the post that he did not want a new corporate identity to take away from either studio. Both Paramount and Warner Bros. have more than a century of history, so the Paramount and Warner Bros. brands will continue to exist under the Skydance umbrella.

He described the move as giving these iconic studios a more powerful engine rather than rewriting their history. Changes are already underway. HBO CEO Casey Bloys has been tapped to run both Paramount+ and HBO Max, while streaming chief Cindy Holland exits.

Ellison has also committed to releasing more than 30 films each year for the first five years, which is a major boost for movie fans.

What do you think of the new update from Ellison? Let us know in the comments below!