Skydance mashes proven properties of Paramount and Warner Bros. into an uncertain Hollywood hybrid

Continuity will be the immediate emphasis for Skydance, the newly created entertainment behemoth borne of Paramount's $81 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery that closed on Tuesday. For now, it will show off its bulging bundle of intellectual properties, with the official announcement touting “a franchise portfolio spanning Top Gun and Harry Potter to White Lotus and SpongeBob SquarePants.”Several such lists could be made without any overlap. Tony Soprano is now under the same roof as Michael Corleone. The creations of J.R.R. Tolkien and Taylor Sheridan now share a home. And the DC Universe is in the same space as “Star Trek.” Both companies also have a storied history — some of it even recent — of non-franchise creations, whose creators are worried about what will be left for them as big swaths of Hollywood fear for their jobs and productions. Moviegoers and TV viewers may wonder what all the fuss was about in the short run, while in the long run they may not recognize the land