Paramount+ dramas may jump to HBO as Skydance merger redraws the map

Skydance's takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery is barely a month old, and the streaming side is still a pile of loose puzzle pieces. Deadline reports that brass are exploring whether to move some upcoming Paramount+ drama series onto HBO, with the review described as early-stage and no decisions locked in. Conversations are said to have climbed to the highest levels — but so far, zero shows have actually moved.

Two titles keep surfacing as natural fits. Discretion, the legal thriller with Nicole Kidman and Elle Fanning, has long been described internally as HBO-ish. The Best Of Us, a limited series about 9/11 first responders starring Succession Emmy winner Jeremy Strong, is also in the mix, along with a couple of projects still waiting on an official green light. For now, everything earmarked for Paramount+ stays put.

The reshuffle follows the Oct. 23 restructuring that handed Casey Bloys — formerly HBO and HBO Max's content chief — oversight of both streamers as Co-Chair and Chief Content Officer of Skydance DTC. His portfolio more than doubled overnight, and the blowback landed on his senior team. Paramount+ EVP and Head of Originals Jane Wiseman is exiting as part of the realignment.

The org chart is shifting fast. Sarah Aubrey, HBO Max's Head of Originals, now runs Paramount+, Max Originals and International Programming, adding all Paramount+ programming under her wing with Wiseman's team reporting up to her. Francesca Orsi got bumped from EVP to President, HBO Drama Series and Films, a beefed-up role that has her working with Bloys to decide which drama projects belong on HBO.

Orsi may also end up shepherding Paramount+ originals that carry HBO DNA — whether or not they ever relocate, per Deadline. That would put an HBO stamp on prestige-leaning shows that stay on Paramount+, and Aubrey and Orsi are already reviewing the Paramount+ drama slate side by side. The stakes are large: Paramount+ leans hard on its drama pipeline, anchored by the sprawling Taylor Sheridan universe, while next-day CBS comedies and procedurals round out its lineup.

The endgame looks like convergence anyway. Skydance co-CEO David Ellison has said he wants HBO Max and Paramount+ to fuse into a single platform within a couple of years. So whether shows migrate now or later, the two slates are on a collision course — and the sorting has only just begun.