Hours after the Skydance-Paramount merger closed final Thursday, the brand new studio management group led by co-Chairs Josh Greenstein and Dana Goldberg despatched a loud message to the city that they meant enterprise, closing a deal for the new Timothee Chalamet-James Mangold package deal Excessive Aspect, which Deadline first informed you about.
It was a daring transfer and a daring of vitality that informed the city that Paramount 2.0 wasn’t trying to reduce on its upcoming function slate, reasonably make on the guarantees made throughout merger talks. The brand new David Ellison led leisure conglom, which prevented an additional collapsing of the movement footage studios, even had No. 1 exhibition boss, AMC’s Adam Aron, giddy on an earnings name Monday in regards to the prospects for extra films on the large display screen. Paramount lately has averaged 11 to 14 function movies.
“Paramount has been money hampered lately, which has induced them to greenlight fewer films than they could have favored to. It seems to us that Skydance is money wealthy, and it could be our expectation that Skydance can be releasing extra films popping out of Paramount than Paramount has been releasing lately,” stated Aron.
Whereas Excessive Aspect remains to be a methods off, the brand new prime function brass, which additionally consists of President Don Granger, has loads of initiatives to dive into as they get settled into their new workplace house on the Melrose lot. From high-profile franchises which have a been on the middle of their launch schedules for many years to new unique tales that includes A-list expertise, under is an inventory of the place issues stand on a number of properties that might assist construct the long run slate.
Whereas it would look like a excessive soar for the brand new administration to succeed, significantly at a studio which misplaced Marvel to Disney in 2009, it’s solely just lately that Paramount noticed a few of its greatest grosses in additional than a decade in 2022 when High Gun: Maverick, Tom Cruise’s highest grossing film ever, and technically Paramount’s a world stage, rallied their annual grosses to $1.29 billion home, and $2.6 billion world. And Ellison’s Skydance had an incredible quantity to do with that success having co-financed 50% of High Gun: Maverick. Little question making High Gun 3 a actuality can be a major to-do for Greenstein, Goldberg and Granger.
Talking of co-financing, what occurs now that the studio’s largest co-financer is now the proprietor? Sources inform us that the plan is for the brand new Paramount on future huge tentpoles ala Star Trek and High Gun is to maintain the upside utterly. Any slate co-financing is sure to occur on the mid-sized finances films which have threat potential.
The earlier Brian Robbins’ led regime leaves behind a trove of high-end expertise manufacturing offers for the brand new C-suite to faucet, i.e. Ryan Reynolds, Damien Chazelle, Krasinski, the style label 18hz led by Walter Hamada which because the film Primate upcoming, and Smile producer Temple Hill.
Whereas Excessive Aspect marked the primary main package deal the studio bought, on the subject of the primary movies to enter manufacturing, sources say its too early to say provided that no greenlights have been given as the highest brass will get settled. That stated, insiders say movies like The Rescue with 1923‘s Brandon Sklenar in talks to star has a powerful likelihood given the ties the mission has to the present regime.
One other excessive precedence for the Skydance owned Paramount, is Star Trek which Ellison has been concerned with for the reason that 2013 sequel Star Trek Into Darkness. As for proper now they’re creating a movie that features model new characters that Andor director Toby Haynes is on board to direct with Seth Grahame Smith writing and Simon Kinberg and J.J. Abrams producing. In addition they have one other installment with Captain Kirk, Spock and the remainder of ordinary characters returning that additionally has Abrams producing and Steve Yockey writing.
The one mission the studio is certain to have an eye fixed is what to do with the following installment within the High Gun franchise after the sequel blew box-office information. Although it has not been formally introduced, information broke in 2023 that Ehren Krueger had begun engaged on a script for the following movie. Star and producer Tom Cruise has centered on the latest Mission: Unimaginable movies not a lot has moved ahead on the movie. Now that Cruise is off these initiatives and on the lookout for what his subsequent movie could possibly be, don’t be stunned if motion begins to pic up on this property.
On the Transformers entrance, the franchise noticed a rebooted live-action movie, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts ($442M world field workplace) starring Anthony Ramos in 2023 and an animated pic, Transformers One, bow final yr. Previous to sale, the studio had three separate scripts in improvement together with one model that sources say has Michael Bay returning to the franchise. These scripts must be prepared for brand spanking new management to try shortly.
The latest high-profile franchise to get a launch date for its subsequent installment was A Quiet Place Half III, which the studio just lately dated for summer time 2027. John Krasinski is again to write down and direct although no forged is hooked up presently.
Following the success of the animated pic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutan Mayhem, the studio had moved quick on a sequel, courting the following movie for Sept. 17, 2027. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are again to provide with Jeff Rowe, Kyler Spears and Yashar Kassai directing. In addition they have a live-action model based mostly on the graphic novel that has Walter Hamada producing.
A few of the different titles embrace the Olympic pic, Winter Video games, starring Miles Teller and Hailee Steinfeld, a Ferris Bueller spin-off and previous to the merger, the studio had been creating Sam & Victor’s Day Off, most just lately hiring Ben Zazove and Evan Turner for a rewrite, and What Youngsters Need, with Invoice Holderman and Erin Simms hooked up to rewrite the script and direct.
There are additionally plenty of Skydance improvement titles coming over which embrace The Rescue, an Untitled John Tuggle movie starring Superman star David Corenswet, a movie based mostly on the Mike Hammer books starring Matthew McConaughey with Nic Pizzolatto writing and The Traveler, with Lee Isaac Chung hooked up to direct. Whereas not confirmed presently it’s honest to say that these Skydance precedence pics will now turn out to be precedence initiatives at Paramount.
At the moment the Paramount 2025-2026 schedule appears as follows:
Roofman – Oct. 10
SpongeBob Film: The Seek for Squarepants – Dec. 19, 2025
Scream 7 – Feb. 27
Untitled Trey Parker/Matt Stone/Kendrick Lamar film – March 20
Scary Film – June 12
PAW Patrol – The Dino Film – July 24
The Legend of Aang: The Final Airbender – Oct 9
Youngsters of Blood & Bone – Jan 15, 2027
The Offended Birds Film 3 – Jan. 29, 2027
Untitled Ok-Pop film – Feb. 12, 2027
Sonic the Hedgehog 4 – March 19, 2027
A Quiet Place III – July 9, 2027
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem 2 – Sept. 17
