David Ellison has promised Skydance will still take risks on original projects like Sinners.
The media mogul's Skydance company has completed its acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, bringing the likes of HBO and DC under his banner alongside Paramount Pictures and more.
Speaking to media in a Q+A this week, Ellison was asked about Skydance's $80 billion debt and how the brand would balance a desire for original creative swings.
Naming Warner Bros flick Sinners as his favourite of 2025, he said: "You absolutely will see us tell original stories."
He added that, more broadly, the combined companies under his umbrella will spend "more than Disney, more than Netflix".
Former Mattel chief Ynon Kriez has joined Skydance as its co-CEO, and he reflected on how Warner Bros and Paramount would continue to operate.
He explained: "The plan is to keep the studios independently creatively, so each studio will have its own slate, its own relationship, its own opportunities.
"Then we will choreograph the release schedule to optimise for genre and audience demographic to achieve for the company as a whole."
Earlier this year, Sinners - Ryan Coogler's vampire thriller - was up for 16 prizes at the Academy Awards, becoming the most-nominated in Oscars history and going onto win four, including Best Actor for Michael B. Jordan.
At the time, the filmmaker told Variety: "I was very impressed by everything that my collaborators were doing every day, so I’m so happy that everybody got recognized by their peers.
“Obviously, I’m biased. I think these folks I work with are some of the best in the world. I feel really fortunate. Because it doesn’t always go that way.”
And Delroy Lindo, who was up for the Best Supporting Actor prize for his role as Delta Sim, previously revealed the moment he knew the movie would be a huge hit.
In a separate interview, he said to Variety: "Concerning Sinners, it's like being in receipt of a gift. Oftentimes it's hard to talk about acting without sounding precious or pretentious, because it is a job, but it's a job of work. There's work and then there's work. And this work is special.
"I knew it was when I read it. Looking back on the experience, the reason it's difficult to answer is that when I'm working, I'm fully in the process, with virtually no room to take a half-step back.
"But there are moments when things feel right. There's a scene in The Cider House Rules where it's raining, and I'm calling to Tobey Maguire's character, Homer. Something about the groundedness and rightness of that moment let me know something was happening."
The Harder They Fall star noted that the cast themselves had moments "talking among ourselves" where it "felt special".
He added: "And the scene right before Mike (B. Jordan) put the stake through (the lead vampire) Remmick; when Ryan was setting it up, he played a piece of music on a loop that really set the tone.
"I never stepped outside and said, 'This is special', but I was experiencing the specialness."
