Hollywood is on the verge of a seismic realignment as Paramount Skydance moves to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in a deal valued around $81 billion. The proposed combination would bring Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., CBS, HBO Max, Paramount+, Nickelodeon and film and television libraries under one corporate umbrella.

Paramount says regulatory clearances have been secured in nearly 70 jurisdictions, while settlements with states and the Writers Guild of America have addressed a legal challenge, although the transaction has not yet closed.

For movie and television fans, the question is which franchises could soon share ownership. Here are the major names.

The Lord of the Rings would become a significant Middle-earth property alongside Paramount’s library. Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema have long been central to the film series, while Middle-earth Enterprises, owned by Embracer, retains rights connected to Tolkien’s works.

The companies are developing The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum with Andy Serkis attached to direct and star. A Paramount-Warner combination would bring the Warner-produced Middle-earth films and Paramount’s entertainment portfolio under one corporate structure. That does not transfer Tolkien rights, but it would align screen businesses and studios.

Next comes DC, Warner Bros.’ superhero cornerstone.

The DC Universe would remain one of Warner Bros.’ entertainment properties, spanning superheroes, comics, films, television and consumer products. Warner Bros. created DC Studios under James Gunn and Peter Safran, giving the studio a structure for developing DC projects.

Under a completed acquisition, that operation would sit within Paramount’s corporate family alongside Paramount Pictures, CBS and Nickelodeon. The significance would be organizational rather than an instant franchise crossover. DC characters would continue within their established creative plans, while Paramount’s brands would remain separate properties. The merger would place both libraries under common ownership.

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Yellowstone follows as Paramount’s major television brand.

Yellowstone represents one of Paramount’s major television franchises, with the flagship drama created by Taylor Sheridan and John Linson and produced through MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios. Paramount’s portfolio includes multiple stories set around the Dutton family, extending the original series through spin-offs and related projects.

A merger with Warner Bros. Discovery would place this Paramount property beside Warner’s premium television brands inside one parent company. That could simplify corporate ownership across a huge library for Paramount, although it would not create a shared Yellowstone universe with Warner franchises.

Paramount’s action catalog provides another attraction, led by Mission: Impossible.

Mission: Impossible is established as a Paramount Pictures franchise, with Tom Cruise starring as Ethan Hunt since the first film arrived in 1996. The studio’s film catalog continues to list the series among its major movie franchises, with 2025’s The Final Reckoning marking the latest theatrical chapter.

A completed Paramount-Warner merger would bring Ethan Hunt’s espionage adventures into the same corporate portfolio as Batman, Harry Potter and other Warner properties. That ownership change would not mean an automatic crossover, since creative rights and production arrangements still govern individual projects.

Cruise’s other Paramount connections make the merger notable. Top Gun is next.

Top Gun is another flagship Paramount property that would move into the proposed combined portfolio. The original 1986 film became a cultural touchstone, while Top Gun: Maverick revived the story decades later and became a theatrical success.

Paramount continues to describe the franchise as a part of its studio legacy, with the series celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2026. Under the proposed acquisition, Maverick and the Top Gun library would sit alongside Warner Bros.’ film heritage. Any future crossover would require separate creative decisions. The merger concerns corporate ownership, not an immediate storyline.

Harry Potter brings another massive Warner franchise.

Harry Potter would give the combined company one of the entertainment industry’s most recognizable fantasy brands. The official Wizarding World site identifies Warner Bros. Entertainment as the parent company behind HarryPotter.com, while Warner Bros. has been deeply involved in the film franchise and its surrounding entertainment business.

The proposed Paramount acquisition would place the Wizarding World within the same corporate structure as Paramount’s movie, television and streaming assets. That would create a vast combined library spanning magic, superheroes, espionage and animation. It would not change creative ownership arrangements around J.K. Rowling’s publishing rights.

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Another Hasbro-linked giant follows with Transformers.

Transformers arrives from Paramount’s side of the proposed merger, with its screen history built through a relationship between Paramount Pictures and Hasbro. Paramount has produced and distributed the live-action film series, while Hasbro remains the owner of the Transformers brand and related trademarks.

Recent Paramount materials continue to identify Transformers as a franchise, alongside other studio properties. A completed acquisition would bring Paramount’s Transformers film library into the same parent-company portfolio as Warner brands such as DC and Harry Potter. Hasbro’s involvement would remain important, since corporate ownership does not erase outside intellectual-property relationships.

SpongeBob SquarePants provides another Paramount powerhouse.

SpongeBob SquarePants represents Paramount’s Nickelodeon side and would add a major animation and children’s property to the combined portfolio. Paramount describes SpongeBob as a global franchise with television series, films and spin-offs, while Paramount+ serves as its streaming home.

The character remains central to Nickelodeon’s programming and Paramount’s broader content business, with new episodes and franchise projects continuing in 2026. A completed merger would place Bikini Bottom alongside Warner Bros.’ animation and family brands under the same corporate umbrella. The result would be a broad entertainment library across audiences and formats.

Another Paramount youth property, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, follows.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles would join the same corporate family through Paramount and Nickelodeon. Paramount currently identifies itself as the custodian of the franchise, with plans spanning preschool programming, new stories, a theatrical sequel to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem in 2027, and a live-action-CG hybrid film in 2028.

Those projects illustrate how extensively the property operates across television, animation and theatrical entertainment. Under the proposed acquisition, TMNT would share a parent company with Warner Bros. properties without automatically becoming part of their fictional universes.

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That distinction matters for franchises built around different rights holders with the Matrix as next.

The Matrix would bring a major science-fiction franchise from Warner Bros. into the proposed combined portfolio. Warner Bros. distributed the original films and remains closely tied to the franchise, while industry reporting has identified a fifth installment with Drew Goddard attached to write and direct.

The series began with the 1999 film starring Keanu Reeves and continued through three sequels, including The Matrix Resurrections. A Paramount-Warner combination would place this cyberpunk property alongside Mission: Impossible, Transformers and Top Gun within one corporate group. Any future connection between those worlds would remain speculative.

Warner’s animation legacy offers the next name with Looney Tunes.

Looney Tunes would add a century-spanning animation legacy to Paramount’s expanding portfolio. Warner Bros. Pictures Animation identifies the characters as the foundation of the studio’s animation history, dating back to 1930. The characters remain active in 2026, with Warner Bros. Pictures Animation announcing Daffy Season as the first theatrical Looney Tunes short in 14 years.

A completed merger would place Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and their fellow characters alongside SpongeBob and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles within one corporate structure. That would unite major animation libraries while leaving each brand’s creative identity intact.

The final franchise comes from Paramount: The Godfather.

The Godfather would bring one of Paramount’s cinematic legacies into the combined company. Paramount’s official catalog identifies Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 classic and its sequels as part of the studio’s enduring film library. The trilogy follows the Corleone family and remains one of the prominent properties associated with Paramount Pictures.

A completed merger would place that heritage beside Warner Bros.’ superhero, fantasy, science-fiction and animation catalogs. The combination would cover an unusually broad range of genres and generations, although shared corporate ownership would not automatically connect the stories.

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What do you think about these franchises potentially coming under the same corporate umbrella after the Paramount-Warner Bros. deal? Let us know in the comments.