Greenstein and Goldberg to lead Paramount Warner Bros film
Josh Greenstein and Dana Goldberg will lead the combined Paramount Warner Bros film unit, as the $111 billion Paramount-Skydance and Warner Bros. merger approaches its Oct. 6 finalization, according to Deadline. The restructuring displaces Warner Bros. motion picture chiefs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, who The Hollywood Reporter reports are exploring opportunities at Netflix.
The combined studio, now branded simply Skydance, is expected to finalize the merger on Oct. 6. David Ellison’s operation brought in former Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz as co-CEO to handle day-to-day integration and management, while Ellison focuses on long-term strategy and creative direction.
Greenstein and Goldberg’s oversight of the combined film slate
Greenstein and Goldberg will now oversee a combined slate of around 71 dated features through 2028. Warner Bros. accounts for 56% of that slate. The merged operation also inherits a film library that includes Oscar-winning titles like One Battle After Another and Sinners, along with Warner Bros.’ 2025 slate that grossed $4.37 billion globally.
The combined Paramount-Warner Bros. is positioned around a potential $1 billion year-end tentpole in Warner Bros. and Legendary’s Dune: Part Three. Year-to-date, the combined North American box office for both studios stands at $878.2 million, placing it fourth behind Universal, Disney and Sony.
De Luca and Abdy’s exit comes amid box office struggles
De Luca and Abdy learned of their likely exit from reports rather than a direct call from Ellison, according to Deadline. The timing is bruising: Warner Bros. is bracing for Tom Cruise’s Digger, an Alejandro Iñárritu social satire with a $125 million-plus budget, to open to roughly $30 million or less worldwide this weekend.
De Luca and Abdy joined Warner Bros. in June 2022 from MGM following Amazon’s $8.5 billion acquisition of that studio. They recently renewed their contracts through 2030. Their tenure has produced box-office performers including the Minecraft Movie, which earned $960 million globally, and Ryan Coogler’s Sinners at $370 million globally.
They also delivered critical victories: One Battle After Another won best picture last year, and Sinners took home major awards. Costly misfires include Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride and this year’s slate of underperformers, with no movie earning more than $100 million domestically.
During 2026, Warner Bros.’ domestic box office hit $448.4 million through Oct. 1, while Paramount’s domestic total reached $429.8 million, though Paramount had two $100-million-plus hits: Scream 7 and Miramax’s Scary Movie.
What’s next
The executive structure for the new Paramount-Warner Bros. is expected to be announced in the coming days, ahead of the Oct. 6 merger close. Separately, Casey Bloys, HBO’s chief, is expected to lead all streaming efforts at the combined studios following Cindy Holland’s exit as Paramount-Skydance’s streaming chief earlier this week.
Reporting from The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline contributed to this story.