Paramount Promises 30 Film-A-Year Contracts After WBD Acquisition (deadline.com) 35
Paramount is making commitments to major theater chains to release 30 films annually for three years if its Warner Bros. deal goes through. According to Deadline, the written commitment was sent to "at least one of the top two circuits" (specifically Regal but AMC may have also received a written commitment) and includes "an exclusive 45-day theatrical window and a 90-day window to streaming." From the report: When it comes to the big chains, it matters for them to be on the right side of history with Paramount, especially when it comes to future terms on a 30-film slate. However, the rest of Cinema United (formerly National Association of Theatre Owners) remains firmly against the Paramount-Warner Bros merger and its potential negative financial outcomes in regards to long-term box office, feature film output and loss of jobs. Cinema United has been trying to meet again with Paramount CEO David Ellison, but there's nothing on the books yet, we understand.
[Regal boss Eduardo Acuna] told Deadline that in regards to Paramount's future promise to exhibition, "[Paramount CEO] David [Ellison] is sincere in making these commitments, and he has offered to execute a consent decree to the state AGs to that effect. These are tangible and important commitments that will benefit the industry and which can be measured." Paramount insiders tell us that no written commitments have been given to exhibitors yet, but Ellison is willing to make non-bespoke ones to any theater chain wanting them. And such deals will come with financial penalties to Paramount should it break such agreements with theaters. Again, this is all about Ellison standing behind his promises made at CinemaCon to maintain a hefty theatrical output and excellent windows to theaters.
[Regal boss Eduardo Acuna] told Deadline that in regards to Paramount's future promise to exhibition, "[Paramount CEO] David [Ellison] is sincere in making these commitments, and he has offered to execute a consent decree to the state AGs to that effect. These are tangible and important commitments that will benefit the industry and which can be measured." Paramount insiders tell us that no written commitments have been given to exhibitors yet, but Ellison is willing to make non-bespoke ones to any theater chain wanting them. And such deals will come with financial penalties to Paramount should it break such agreements with theaters. Again, this is all about Ellison standing behind his promises made at CinemaCon to maintain a hefty theatrical output and excellent windows to theaters.
Re: (Score:3)
Backrooms had a lot of fun and creative production design for all the different, well, backroom areas but the overall characters and their story arc fell flat for me and some of the scares felt silly.
I was hoping for more of a "characters have to use their wits to figure their way out of a weird situation" and less of "the backrooms are a metaphor". Not a bad film by any stretch though, just had more potential than it was given.
So? (Score:5, Insightful)
"These are tangible and important commitments that will benefit the industry and which can be measured."
Do they come with reparations if the commitments aren't met? If not they're worthless.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
I made a meme to answer your question. https://imgflip.com/i/ayj607 [imgflip.com]
Re:So? (Score:4, Informative)
It's in the very same paragraph in the summary; "And such deals will come with financial penalties to Paramount should it break such agreements with theaters."
Re: So? (Score:3)
But what are they? Are they reasonable? Will they be able to weasel out trivially?
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AI slop 1-30 ready for cinemas
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"These are tangible and important commitments that will benefit the industry and which can be measured."
Do they come with reparations if the commitments aren't met? If not they're worthless.
Yes (although the details of any payments for failing those commitments were not shared), but it is also only a three year commitment. After that, any/all movies could have same day streaming openings, or much shorter theater exclusivity. It should also be noted that Ellison has previous praised the Amazon/Netflix strategy in regards to streaming (which may include a short window in theaters for the real prestige films in order to get into the Oscar qualifications).
And the quality and genres of the fil
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AI can churn out endless content in any desired amount - should be an easy commitment to keep.
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Roku's AI channel proves that you can make an endless stream of AI-generated slop.
I don't think any adults will watch it, but young children will land there and harmed by it.
Promises? (Score:4, Informative)
The Ellisons are a very litigious family. I'd be checking those 'commitments' very carefully for escape hatches. And 3 years of good behavior is clearly a small price to pay in the grand scheme of things. I think they could do (much) better.
Re:Promises? (Score:4, Interesting)
In 3 years they'll have run it into the ground and be looking for another new buyer. Coincidentally, 3 years and 9 months was the length of time AT&T owned Warner Brothers before pawning it off on Discovery.
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Larry is buddies with Dear Leader so any legal troubles are easily remedied.
All Hail The Don! (Score:2)
Parts 1 to 30.
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year 2, Parts 1 to 30., now with clippy
Whats the budget of each film? (Score:3)
Will it be fine if Paramount churns out a bunch of cheap films with no name actors / director etc?
Not saying those films can't do well (some indie films have done well), but is that sufficient to meet the 30 films a year commitment? Or does the commitment contains a minimum budget for each of the 30 films (not to mention hollywood accounting tricks to make the budget of a film basically any number you want it to be).
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Simultaneous release on streaming? 2 weeks to streaming?
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Paramount already calling The Asylum [theasylum.cc] for this contract who offered 30 more "Shark Vs. (Name your giant animal)" films every year.
Three years!!!!! (Score:3)
They probably already have the 90 movies... (Score:4, Interesting)
With how long it takes to make a movie, including per-production, the 3 years is most likely what is already in the queue and approved at some point. So making the promise now doesn't cost them much in comparison to a similar agreement starting 5 years after the merger. If they stopped the 90+ movi9nes now they would be out those costs, which would most likely be a really large amount.
They should promise that they will "start new movies", including new scripts, etc for at least 10 years if they are sincere about really making a go of keeping these theater companies on their side.
Simple to STOP production (Score:2)
If James Cameron can waver about continuing Avatar, anything can be stopped.
Also, I'd bet generic movie production is far faster now. The first I noticed was Saw, but lots have caught on to the "small cast, limited sets, low CGI" model. I don't recall seeing the monster in A Quiet Place, for instance, and Backrooms looks like it could be shot in an abandoned mall with an iPhone and a bunch of fabric.
Not the Barbenheimer / MCU / DCU stuff, maybe, but there's lots of space below that.
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If James Cameron can waver about continuing Avatar, anything can be stopped.
Well, James Cameron has a couple of thoughts, in that he wants to do other stories than Avatar (and by Avatar 5, he would be close to 80, and he has suggested a few other passion projects he wants to do), and he is stating that films like Avatar cost too much and take too long to make, and that is not sustainable for the industry as a whole (and Avatar 4/5 are not immune from that reality, even if Disney might be willing to commit the money).
A much bigger story than the 30-film number itself (Score:3)
Three years? (Score:3)
Van Morrison'd (Score:4, Informative)
Paper promises are not worth the paper they're printed on, especially if they're such vague notions as "how many movies we will release" nonsense.
Van Morrison cranked out 31 tracks of nonsense songs at 1 minute a piece and fulfilled a contractual obligation for songs/albums delivered to get a better deal somewhere else. These people are pure snakes, and you can guarantee that they will do exactly that to technically fulfill any promises they're making now. There will be 15 "real" movies and 15 "bullshit" movies.
Oh HELL No! (Score:1)
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Sure... (Score:2)
It should be easy to come up with 20 or so Vanity Pieces like "Melania".
Re: (Score:1)
It should be easy to come up with 20 or so Vanity Pieces like "Melania".
Can they do re-releases? There are probably a few Trump related movies they could get cheap 1/ Ask A Porn Star: Describe Donald Trump (2017), 2/Donald Trump Sex Tape - A XXX Parody (2016), 3/ Ivy Lior Meets "Donald Trumps Nephew" And Gets Fucked Hard (2023). This doesn't include the 2 that he was IN.