What’s next for Warner Bros. Discovery? A few scenarios

Other bidders and Writers Guild could stand in Paramount’s way

- Samantha Masunaga

Los Angeles Times photo illustration; photograph by DANIA MAXWELL Los Angeles Times

Warner Bros. Discovery has finally said publicly what everyone has been talking about for weeks: The media company is up for sale.

Although the news was hardly a surprise — Warner has been unofficially in play for some two months — the prospect of another blockbuster merger has rattled an entertainment industry that has seen a slow drumbeat of consolidation in recent years.

Hollywood insiders still lament the effect of Walt Disney Co.’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets and what that has meant for theatrical output and the shrinking buyer’s market. Warner itself is the result of multiple sales and mergers.

More recently, of course, was the takeover of Paramount by tech scion David Ellison’s Skydance Media, a deal thatonly just closed in August.

The new owners wasted no time getting bigger. Soon after scooping up Paramount, the Ellison-backed media company went on a buying spree, locking down sports media rights and iconic cartoons such as “South Park” and luring filmmakers away from competitors.

Now, its sights are on a much bigger target: Warner Bros., the iconic studio behind classics such as “Casablanca,” “Batman” and the “Harry Potter” movies.