Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery Agree to Historic Merger

Paramount and Warner Bros. are officially becoming one ... a historic merger -- and a huge Hollywood twist after Netflix bowed out yesterday of the race as the finish line was in sight.

Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery agreed to the deal Friday ... after months of speculation over who would acquire the iconic Warners.

David Ellison, chairman and CEO of Paramount, said in part ... "From the very beginning, our pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery has been guided by a clear purpose: to honor the legacy of two iconic companies while accelerating our vision of building a next-generation media and entertainment company."

David Zaslav, president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, said in part ... "Our guiding principle throughout this process has been to secure a transaction that maximizes the value of our iconic assets and our century-old studio while delivering as much certainty as possible for our investors. We look forward to working with Paramount to complete this historic transaction."

It might seem like inside baseball to some ... but the deal has had a lot of drama ... because when it looked like Netflix was all but sure to wind up the victor -- some speculated the theater-going experience would meet its demise.