Paramount Global’s board of directors Sunday approved a deal to merge with Skydance Media, opening a new chapter for one of Hollywood’s oldest studios.
The agreement could be finalised as soon as Sunday night.
The deal marks the end of an era for the Redstone family, whose late patriarch, Sumner Redstone, transformed the family’s chain of drive-in movie theatres into a media empire that included Paramount Pictures, the CBS broadcast network and cable television networks Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and MTV.
The merger would combine Paramount, home of such classic films as “Chinatown”, “The Godfather” and “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, with its financial partner on several major recent films, including “Top Gun: Maverick”, “Mission: Impossible-Dead Reckoning” and “Star Trek Into Darkness”.