Warner Bros.’ eleven Oscars win as Paramount takeover looms
The Hindu
Warner Bros. dominated the Academy Awards, but Paramount’s looming acquisition of the studio signals the biggest restructuring of the industry in decades and a battle over the future of Hollywood itself
And the winner is Warner Bros. At least where the just-concluded Oscars ceremony is concerned. The studio founded in 1923 by the brothers Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack Warner (yes, there were actually four Warner brothers) had 30 nominations this year, of which it has won 11 Oscars. What happens after this, however, is a concern for some in Hollywood.
Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of Warner Bros. studio, has a $110 billion takeover offer from Paramount and Skydance. The deal has to be approved by the U.S. government authorities since it could create a huge monopoly. Until recently, streaming giant Netflix was in the bid too, for $82.7 billion.
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison (second from left) and Tom Cruise (centre), who has given Paramount several big successes, including the final film in the MI franchise, Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning (2025). | Photo Credit: Getty Images
Many observers feel that the deal could go through later this year since the 2025-established Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, 43, and his father Larry, the founder of Oracle Corporation, are close to U.S. President Donald Trump. They are also big financial supporters of Israel.
Warner Bros. Discovery studio has a takeover offer from Paramount Skydance for $110 billion. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
Paramount had some big successes in 2025, from Tom Cruise-led Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning, which grossed $600 million, to The Naked Gun franchise’s latest reboot starring Liam Neeson ($102 million global box-office), which had a terrific second innings on Amazon Prime. “I think Paramount’s goal is to be the biggest movie studio out there,” says Gitesh Pandya, editor of BoxOfficeGuru.com, and a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), which gives out the Academy Awards (Oscars). The other big studios that define the Hollywood terrain are The Walt Disney Company, Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures, and Amazon MGM Studios — a new entity after Jeff Bezos’ Amazon Studios bought MGM in 2022.
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