Paramount/Skydance’s David Ellison is making a big promise to theater owners as he tries to get that proposed $110 billion Warner Bros. Discovery deal across the finish line.
According to Bloomberg, Paramount has offered three-year agreements to AMC and Regal that would guarantee 30 movies a year in theaters. The films would play exclusively on the big screen for at least 45 days and would not be available to stream for at least 90 days.
The agreements are meant to put something concrete behind David Ellison’s repeated claims that he plans to make more movies, not fewer, if the Warner Bros. deal goes through. Ellison has talked publicly about supporting theaters, but these contracts would go a step further. If Paramount fails to meet the commitments, it would reportedly face “penalties.”
That thirty theatrical films per year promise—that’s a whole lot of releases, and something that hasn’t really been achieved by a major studio in the modern era of filmmaking. Can a studio realistically manage that many globally appealing films in a year, handling everything from development to distribution? It’s ambitious. I do applaud Ellison for at least attempting it. We’ll see how it goes.
I won’t lie, Paramount’s 2026 and 2027 slate looks bleak. They did have decent hits with “Scream 7” and “Scary Movie 6,” but botched “Jackass: Best and Last.” Coming up next are “Street Fighter,” “Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie,” “Heart of the Beast,” “Ebenezer,” “Children of Blood and Bone,” “K-Pop Superstar,” “Mr. Irrelevant,” “The Angry Birds 3,” and “Get Lite.”
Meanwhile, Ellison has been greenlighting projects at a feverish pace these last six months. We most recently heard about that “Nightmare on Elm Street” reboot, plus the next ‘Star Trek,’ ‘Days of Thunder 2,’ ‘World War Z 2,’ “G.I. Joe,” “Call of Duty,” and a new Michael Bay-directed ‘Transformers.’
The Paramount-Warner Bros. deal is facing a major legal hurdle. Twelve states are suing to block the acquisition, arguing that combining Paramount and Warner Bros. would give Ellison too much control over Hollywood and could eventually lead to fewer movies and lost jobs. Ellison says that’s fake news. Meanwhile, California Governor Gavin Newsom is reportedly trying to get his Attorney General, Rob Bonta, to back out of the lawsuit. A trial is currently scheduled for March.
AMC CEO Adam Aron has publicly backed Ellison, while Regal CEO Eduardo Acuna did the same last week. Cinema United, which represents theater owners, remains opposed. Ellison’s argument is pretty simple: he loves movies and wants to put more of them in theaters. However, plenty of people in Hollywood remain unconvinced. Disney made similar promises when it bought 20th Century Fox, and the studio’s output eventually declined.
Paramount needs money. Buying Warner Bros. Discovery was expensive, and now the company is looking for new investors. One name that has come up? Elon Musk.