With the Ellisons circling, a Warner Bros.-Paramount merger could crown a new franchise king—if debt, egos and regulators don’t block it.

Fresh from its own merger, Paramount Skydance is preparing a majority cash bid for the entirety of WBD, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the Ellison-backed Paramount was preparing a largely cash bid for Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), comprising Warner Bros. Entertainment, DC Comics, Turner Entertainment, Hanna-Barbera, and The ...