Paramount-Warner Bros merger: Has the dirty ‘Digger’ finally met his match?  

Digger is the last film released by Warner Brothers before their $110 billion merger with Paramount, headed by billionaire David Ellison. But how powerful will Ellison become, and what does this merger mean for you?  

Rupert Murdoch, dubbed the ‘Dirty Digger’ … is widely considered the most influential media mogul ever

Currently, Rupert Murdoch, dubbed the ‘Dirty Digger’ by Private Eye after he acquired the memoirs of Christine Keeler during her public affair with MP John Profumo, is widely considered the most influential media mogul ever. He owns a number of newspapers including The Sun, The Times and The New York Post, as well as the publishing group HarperCollins and Fox News. Murdoch’s influence, however, has been dwindling as multiple of his companies have closed following scandals.

The Ellisons’ influence, much like Murdoch’s, has thrived most under politically turbulent times  

But, as Rupert Murdoch’s empire shrinks, David Ellison’s multiplies. The son of billionaire Larry Ellison, founder of major software company Oracle, David Ellison founded Skydance in 2006, originally a film and television production company responsible for films like Mission Impossible: Fallout, Star Trek Beyond, and Oscar-nominated Top-Gun Maverick.  

In 2025, Skydance acquired the Paramount Group, and, in his pledge to continue expanding his company, Ellison with Skydance began a (now successful) bid to take over Warner Brothers Discovery (WBD) in 2026.  

Ellison is not a new name to readers of the business pages: through Oracle, his father was influential in creating the core infrastructure of the internet, and David Ellison became a multi-millionaire over 10 years ago.  

The father and son’s influence, however, much like Murdoch’s, has thrived most under politically turbulent times. Larry Ellison is a public ally of President Donald Trump: Ellison spoke to Trump supporters after their loss in 2020 proposing ways to undermine the election results, he donated millions of dollars to Trump’s re-election campaign in 2024 and he led the Trump-backed US bid to buy TikTok. His son, however, says he is “not particularly close” with President Trump, and has recently denied “politicising” the Paramount and WBD merger – his discussions with the President before gaining his approval, however, indicate otherwise.  

After the Trump administration approved Skydance’s initial merger with Paramount, which includes control over CBS, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central, CBS’ Late Show with Stephen Colbert was cancelled after running for over 10 years. While Paramount maintains the reasons for the cancellation were “purely financial”, Colbert’s willingness to criticize the Trump administration, and frequency in doing so, prompted speculation over the real reason for the show’s closure.

The content in the “30 new films” Ellison pledges to produce may not contain the same themes as Digger

Trump praised Ellison’s decision to close the show, while also praising Ellison’s appointment of Barry Weiss, creator and former editor of right-wing news organization ‘The Free Press’ as new editor-in-chief of CBS News.  

Then, earlier this year, after Warner Brothers initially decided to accept Netflix’s takeover bid, Larry Ellison rang President Trump in an attempt to block the new Netflix WBD merger, persuading him to look at Skydance’s offer instead. A few days later, David Ellison met with the President, promising him that if Skydance’s offer were to be accepted instead of Netflix’s, he would make drastic changes to the operation of news company CNN.  

What does this mean for you as a news watcher and movie lover?  

Trump’s current hostility towards news outlets which, he argues, publish “purposely negative stories” may change if their leadership becomes more Trump-friendly, and the content in the “30 new films” Ellison pledges to produce and release in his first year in charge of WBD may not contain the same themes as their last – Digger.

A dark satirical comedy about an oil tycoon trying to cover up a giant climate incident with the help of a dying President and his fractured cabinet, Warner Brothers took a risk creating such a politically charged story – a risk that may not be taken again any time soon, not least for the film’s widespread unpopularity. Digger is on track to lose millions at the box office, and with its harsh political messaging and heavy creative freedom, it may be the last blockbuster of its kind.