Skydance Media, LLC (formerly known as Skydance Productions) was an American media production and financing company founded by David Ellison and based in Santa Monica, California, that was active from April 4, 2006 to August 7, 2025. It specialized in films, animation, television, video games, and sports.
In 2009, the company entered a five-year partnership to co-produce and co-finance films with Paramount Pictures. This agreement was renewed twice, extending to 2021. On July 7, 2024, Skydance announced its intent to merge with Paramount Global in an $8 billion transaction, under an agreement in which Skydance would acquire Paramount’s controlling shareholder National Amusements, and then perform an all-stock merger with the company. On July 24, 2025, the merger was approved by the FCC, and the merger was closed on August 7, 2025, forming Paramount Skydance (now known as Skydance). Skydance Media’s film library was transferred to Paramount Pictures. Despite this, the Skydance brand continues to remain active across its divisions (like Skydance Animation or Skydance Sports), along as a vanity card used for any upcoming films produced by Ellison, and the name for the parent company, Skydance.
Skydance Productions was formed in 2006 by David Ellison, son of Larry Ellison, co-founder and then-CEO of the Oracle Corporation. David, a pilot, had an interest in aviation and took inspiration for the company name from flying aerobatics known as “skydancing”. The firm’s first film was Flyboys in 2006 which starred David and was co-financed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
In the fall of 2009, Skydance and Paramount Pictures signed a five-year co-financing, production and distribution agreement, with Paramount holding an additional option of distribution. Before August 2010, Skydance hired Dana Goldberg, formerly of Village Roadshow Pictures, to oversee development and production as chief creative officer. In August 2010, with the Paramount partnership and an equity investment by Larry, who was then the sixth richest person in the world, Skydance raised $350 million in equity and credit to co-finance its films.
On October 25, 2011, Skydance tried to sign its own first production client with Alex Kurtzman and the late Roberto Orci of K/O Paper Products, but the deal never materialized.
| Trade name | Skydance |
|---|---|
| Formerly | Skydance Productions (2006–2020) |
| Type | Private |
| Industry | Entertainment |
| Founded | April 4, 2006; 20 years ago |
| Founder | David Ellison |
| Defunct | August 7, 2025; 14 months ago |
| Fate | Acquired National Amusements and merged with Paramount Global to form Paramount Skydance (now Skydance); brand still active |
| Successors | Skydance |
| Headquarters | Santa Monica, California, United States |
| Area served | Global |
| Key people | David Ellison (CEO)Dana Goldberg (CCO)Don Granger (EVP of Feature Productions)Jesse Sisgold (president and COO)Larry Wasserman (CFO and co-president) |
| Products | AnimationFilm industry |
| Brands | Uncharted (label) |
| Divisions | Skydance TelevisionSkydance AnimationSkydance InteractiveSkydance SportsNocturnaSkydance Development[1] |
| Website | skydance |
Released
| Release | Title | Co-production companies | Distributor(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| as Skydance Productions | |||
| September 22, 2006 | Flyboys | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Ingenious Media and Electric Entertainment | MGM Distribution Co. |
| December 22, 2010 | True Grit | Mike Zoss Productions and Scott Rudin Productions | Paramount Pictures |
| December 16, 2011 | Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol | Bad Robot and TC Productions | |
| December 19, 2012 | The Guilt Trip | Michaels/Goldwyn | |
| December 21, 2012 | Jack Reacher | TC Productions | |
| March 28, 2013 | G.I. Joe: Retaliation | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Hasbro Studios and Di Bonaventura Pictures | |
| May 15, 2013 | Star Trek Into Darkness | Bad Robot and K/O Paper Products | |
| June 21, 2013 | World War Z | Hemisphere Media Capital, Plan B Entertainment and GK Films | |
| January 17, 2014 | Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit | Di Bonaventura Pictures and Mace Neufeld Productions | |
| July 1, 2015 | Terminator Genisys | Annapurna Pictures | |
| July 31, 2015 | Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation | Bad Robot, Alibaba Pictures, China Movie Channel and TC Productions | |
| as Skydance | |||
| July 22, 2016 | Star Trek Beyond | Alibaba Pictures, Huahua Media, Bad Robot, Sneaky Shark Productions and Perfect Storm Entertainment | Paramount Pictures |
| October 21, 2016 | Jack Reacher: Never Go Back | TC Productions, Shanghai Film Group and Huahua Media | |
| March 24, 2017 | Life | Columbia Pictures and Mockingbird Pictures | Sony Pictures Releasing |
| May 25, 2017 | Baywatch | under Uncharted; Shanghai Film Group, Huahua Media, Seven Bucks Productions, The Montecito Picture Company, Fremantle Productions and Flynn Picture Company | Paramount Pictures |
| October 20, 2017 | Geostorm | Electric Entertainment and RatPac-Dune Entertainment | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| February 23, 2018 | Annihilation | Scott Rudin Productions and DNA Films | Paramount Pictures (U.S. and Chinese distribution) Netflix (International distribution) |
| July 27, 2018 | Mission: Impossible – Fallout | Alibaba Pictures, Bad Robot and TC Productions | Paramount Pictures |
| October 11, 2019 | Gemini Man | Alibaba Pictures, Fosun Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films | |
| November 1, 2019 | Terminator: Dark Fate | Tencent Pictures and Lightstorm Entertainment | Paramount Pictures (U.S. distribution) Buena Vista International (International distribution under 20th Century Fox name) |
| December 13, 2019 | 6 Underground | Bay Films | Netflix |
| July 10, 2020 | The Old Guard | Denver and Delilah Productions and Marc Evans Productions | |
| April 30, 2021 | Without Remorse | Paramount Pictures, New Republic Pictures, Weed Road Pictures, Outlier Society and Midnight Radio Productions | Amazon Studios |
| July 2, 2021 | The Tomorrow War | Paramount Pictures and New Republic Pictures | |
| July 23, 2021 | Snake Eyes | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Entertainment One and Di Bonaventura Pictures | Paramount Pictures |
| March 11, 2022 | The Adam Project | 21 Laps Entertainment and Maximum Effort | Netflix |
| May 27, 2022 | Top Gun: Maverick | Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films and TC Productions | Paramount Pictures |
| August 5, 2022 | Luck | under Skydance Animation; Apple Original Films | Apple TV+ |
| September 30, 2022 | The Greatest Beer Run Ever | Apple Original Films and Living Films | |
| April 5, 2023 | Air | under Skydance Sports; Artists Equity, Studio 8 and Mandalay Pictures | Amazon Studios (U.S. distribution) Warner Bros. Pictures (International distribution) |
| April 21, 2023 | Ghosted | Apple Studios | Apple TV+ |
| June 9, 2023 | Transformers: Rise of the Beasts | Hasbro, Bayhem Films, New Republic Pictures and Di Bonaventura Pictures | Paramount Pictures |
| July 12, 2023 | Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning | TC Productions | |
| August 11, 2023 | Heart of Stone | Pilot Wave and Mockingbird Pictures | Netflix |
| September 22, 2023 | Spy Kids: Armageddon | Troublemaker Studios and Spyglass Media Group | |
| December 15, 2023 | The Family Plan | Apple Studios and Municipal Pictures | Apple TV+ |
| November 22, 2024 | Spellbound | under Skydance Animation | Netflix |
| February 14, 2025 | The Gorge | Apple Studios, Lit Entertainment Group and Crooked Highway | Apple TV+ |
| May 23, 2025 | Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning | TC Productions | Paramount Pictures |
| Fountain of Youth | Apple Studios, Project X Entertainment and Radio Silence Productions | Apple TV+ | |
| July 2, 2025 | The Old Guard 2 | Denver and Delilah Productions and Marc Evans Productions | Netflix |
| November 21, 2025 | The Family Plan 2 | Apple Studios and Municipal Pictures | Apple TV |
| March 27, 2026 | They Will Kill You | under Nocturna; New Line Cinema | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| April 15, 2026 | Balls Up | Reese/Wernick Productions | Amazon MGM Studios |
| May 1, 2026 | Swapped | under Skydance Animation | Netflix |
| September 4, 2026 | Mayday | Apple Studios and Maximum Effort | Apple TV |
| October 9, 2026 | Matchbox: The Movie | Apple Studios and Mattel Studios | |
Upcoming
| Release | Title | Co-production companies | Distributor(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 20, 2026 | Way of the Warrior Kid | Apple Studios, Wonderland Sound and Vision, Everard Entertainment and Indivisible Productions | Apple TV | [42][43] |
| December 18, 2026 | Ray Gunn | under Skydance Animation | Netflix | [44] |
| December 25, 2026 | Mr. Irrelevant | under Skydance Sports; Megamix and Blackjack Films | Paramount Pictures | [45][46] |
In development
| Title | Co-production companies | Distributor(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| The 47 Night Stand | Orchard Farm Productions | TBA | [47] |
| Atlantis | Metronome Film Co. | [48] | |
| Bermuda | Crooked Highway and Mockingbird Pictures | [49] | |
| Best Served Cold | Blur Studio | [50] | |
| Buck Rogers | TBA | [51] | |
| Cosmic Motors | under Skydance Animation | Paramount Pictures | [52] |
| Drift | Double Dream and 12:01 Films | TBA | [53] |
| Eternal Champions | Sega Sammy Group | [54] | |
| Rainbow Six | 87Eleven Entertainment, Weed Road Pictures, Outlier Society and Midnight Radio Productions | Paramount Pictures | [55] |
| Ranger’s Apprentice | TBA | TBA | [56] |
| The Rescue | [57] | ||
| Star Trek 4 | Bad Robot and Sneaky Shark Productions | [58] | |
| Summer Frost | Temple Hill Entertainment | [59] | |
| The Tomorrow War 2 | New Republic Pictures | Amazon MGM Studios | [60][61] |
| The Traveler | TBA | [62] | |
| Untitled Jack and the Beanstalk project | under Skydance Animation | Netflix | [63] |
| Untitled Mike Hammer film | TBA | [64] | |
read Also: Growth History of Instagram from 2010 to 2026: Monthly Active Users

