Overview

• Skydance Media and RedBird Capital Partners completed their $8 billion acquisition of Paramount on Aug. 7, installing David Ellison as CEO alongside co-chairs Josh Greenstein and Dana Goldberg.
• Paramount plans to ramp its annual theatrical slate from recent highs of 11–14 films to 15 in the near term and ultimately 20 features, all destined for cinemas.
• Cindy Holland, Paramount’s head of streaming, confirmed that direct-to-streaming feature films are not a priority as the company shifts investment toward scripted series and major rights deals like UFC and South Park.
• Star Trek has been elevated to a unified film-and-TV franchise with new movie projects in development even as prior cuts to series such as Prodigy and Discovery continue to constrain its streaming slate.
• Backed by Skydance’s capital, the studio intends to self-finance its biggest tentpoles—including Top Gun 3, World War Z and Transformers—to retain full revenue upside rather than rely on external co-financing.