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A14 BUSINESS
Tuesday 9 July 2024
Paramount and Skydance merge, signaling end of a family reign

in Hollywood and the rise of new power

By WYATTE GRANTHAM- One Love” and “A Quiet
PHILIPS Place: Day One,” and still
AP Business Writer to come is Ridley Scott’s
NEW YORK (AP) — The enter- “Gladiator” sequel.
tainment giant Paramount The National Association
will merge with Skydance, of Theatre Owners, a trade
closing out a decades-long organization that repre-
run by the Redstone family sents over 35,000 screens
in Hollywood and injecting in the U.S., said in a state-
desperately needed cash ment Monday that it plans
into a legacy studio that to look closely at the details
has struggled to adapt to a of the merger with an eye
shifting entertainment land- towards whether it will pro-
scape. duce more or less theatri-
It also signals the rise of a cal releases.
new power player, David “We are encouraged by
Ellison, the founder of Sky- the commitment that Da-
dance and son of billion- vid Ellison and the Sky-
aire Larry Ellison, the found- dance Media team have
er of the software compa- shown to theatrical exhibi-
ny Oracle. tion in the past,” said Mi-
Shari Redstone’s National chael O’Leary, president
Amusements has owned and CEO of the National
more than three-quarters of Association of Theatre
Paramount’s Class A voting Producer David Ellison poses for the media during the ‘Top Gun Maverick’ UK premiere at a central Owners. “A merger that re-
London cinema, on Thursday, May 19, 2022.
shares through the estate Associated Press sults in fewer movies being
of her late father, Sumner produced will not only hurt
Redstone. She had battled son will become chairman day’s conference call, with Throughout its rich history, consumers and result in less
to maintain control of the and chief executive officer chairman of RedBird Sports Paramount has had a hand revenue, but negatively im-
company that owns CBS, of what’s being called New and Media Jeff Shell not- in releasing films from “Sun- pact people who work in
which is behind blockbust- Paramount. ing that they had identified set Boulevard” and “The all sectors of this great in-
er films such as “Top Gun” Ellison outlined the vision some $2 billion in cost effi- Godfather,” to “Raiders of dustry creative, distribution
and “The Godfather.” for New Paramount on a ciencies and synergies that the Lost Ark” and “Titanic.” and exhibition.”
Just weeks after turning conference call about the they’ll “attempt to deliver The studio also distributed Sumner Redstone used
down a similar agreement transaction Monday. In ad- pretty rapidly.” several early Marvel Cine- National Amusements,
with Skydance, however, dition to doubling down Shell and others addressed matic Universe films, includ- his family’s movie theater
Redstone agreed to a on core competencies, the declining growth of lin- ing “Iron Man” and “Thor,” chain, to build a vast me-
deal on terms that had not notably with a “creative ear TV. before the Disney acqui- dia empire that included
changed much. first” approach, he stressed Flagship linear brands will sition. In addition to “Mis- CBS and Viacom, which
“Given the changes in the that the company needs continue to represent a big sion: Impossible” and “Top have merged and separat-
industry, we want to fortify to transition into a “tech chunk of the company’s Gun,” Paramount’s current ed a number of times over
Paramount for the future hybrid” to stay competitive operations, but learning franchises include “Trans- the years. Most recently,
while ensuring that content in today’s evolving media how to run this portion of formers,” “Star Trek” and the companies re-joined
remains king,” said Red- landscape. business differently will be “Jackass.” forces in 2019, undoing the
stone, who is chair of Para- “You’ve watched some in- key, he said. While Paramount has not split consummated in 2006.
mount Global. credibly powerful technol- The on-again, off-again topped the annual domes- The company, ViacomCBS,
The new combined com- ogy companies move into merger arrives at tumultu- tic box office charts for over changed its name to Para-
pany is valued at around the ... media space and do ous time for Paramount, a decade, the wild box of- mount Global in 2022.
$28 billion. In connection so very successfully,” Ellison which has struggled to find fice success of “Top Gun: Under Sumner Redstone’s
with the proposed transac- said. He added that it was its footing for years and its Maverick” in 2022 (nearly leadership, Viacom be-
tion, which is expected to “essential” for New Para- cable business has been $1.5 billion worldwide) was came one of the nation’s
close in September 2025 mount to chart a similar hemorrhaging. In an an- an important boon to both media titans, home to pay
pending regulatory ap- course going forward. nual shareholder meeting movie theaters and the in- TV channels MTV and Com-
proval, a consortium led by That includes plans to “re- in early June, the company dustry’s pandemic recov- edy Central and movie stu-
the Ellison family and Red- build” the Paramount+ also laid out a restructuring ery. Still, its theatrical output dio Paramount Pictures.
Bird Capital will be invest- streaming service, Ellison plan that included major has declined somewhat in It is a company with a rich
ing $8 billion. noted pointing to wider cost cuts. recent years. Last year it history, as well as a deep
Skydance, based in Santa goals to expand direct-to- Leadership at Paramount released only eight new bank of media assets, and
Monica, California, has consumer business, such was also volatile earlier movies and came in fifth Skydance wasn’t the only
helped produce some ma- as increasing engagement this year after its CEO Bob place for overall box office one to gun for Paramount
jor Paramount hits in recent time on the platform and Bakish, following a number at around $2 billion behind in recent months Apollo
years, including Tom Cruise reducing user churn. He of disputes with Redstone, Universal (24 films), Disney Global Management and
films like “Top Gun: Maver- also said that the company was replaced with an “of- (17 films), Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures also made
ick” and installments of the aims to transition to more fice of the C.E.O,” run by Sony. This year the release competing offers.
“Mission Impossible” series. cloud-based production three executives. calendar is similarly mod- Late last year, Warner
Skydance was founded in and continue the use of Four company directors est, especially with the ab- Bros. Discovery also made
2010 by David Ellison and it generative artificial intelli- were also replaced. sence of “Mission: Impos- headlines for exploring
quickly formed a produc- gence to boost efficiency. Paramount is one of Hol- sible 8,” which was pushed a potential merger with
tion partnership with Para- Executives also outlined fur- lywood’s oldest studios, to 2025 amid the strikes. The Paramount. But by Febru-
mount that same year. If ther restructuring plans for dating back its founding studio has had some suc- ary, Warner had reportedly
the deal is approved, Elli- New Paramount on Mon- in 1914 as a distributor. cesses, with “Bob Marley: halted those talks.q