Paramount renews with Skydance, seeks to assure Huahua
While CBS is doing quite well money-wise, Viacom (parent company of Paramount Pictures who hold the rights to make Star Trek movies) is still
struggling in that area. But today brought some good news as
Varietyreports Skydance Media and Paramount Pictures announced they have renewed their partnership. David Ellison’s Skydance has partnered with Paramount on a number of recent tentpole films, including both
Star Trek Into Darkness and
Star Trek Beyond. Ellison was also credited as an executive producer on both films.
After a number of box office disappointments, Skydance was apparently looking to end the relationship but the recent hiring of a new Paramount CEO has kept them in the fold.
“We have the utmost confidence in Paramount’s bright future under the strategic direction of Jim Gianopulos, and we look forward to continuing to partner with him and the world-class leadership team that he has put in place,” David Ellison said in a statement. “From beloved franchises to wholly original IP and bold new animated films, together we have ambitious plans to bring more great stories to the big screen for audiences around the globe.”
The announcement included a number of previously announced upcoming Paramount films including installments from the Mission: Impossible, Top Gun, World War Z and Terminator franchises, but did not mention Star Trek.
Variety is also reporting that executives from Viacom are headed to China to secure additional future financing with Huahua, another partner on
Star Trek Beyond. The Chinese company is said to be unhappy with the performance of recent Paramount films in China (notably
Baywatch and
Transformers: The Last Night) and want reassurances about the future slate.
From
Variety:
Huahua believes it still has the ability to get out of the deal if Paramount films do not improve their financial performance in the next 12 to 24 months. The hope is that next week’s meeting, during which Viacom will present new proposals and preview upcoming releases, will better clarify Paramount’s long-term strategy.
“Viacom needs to explain a better plan for how it spends [our] investment money,” the Huahua source said.
As we have reported, Paramount and its parent Viacom see Star Trek as one of their key tentpole franchises, and all ‘tentpole’ films from Paramount require outside financing from partners like Skydance and Huahua. These deals could be critical components of decisions on what to do next with the Trek film franchise.
Paramount renews with Skydance, seeks to assure Huahua
"The announcement included a number of previously announced upcoming Paramount films including installments from the Mission: Impossible, Top Gun, World War Z and Terminator franchises, but did not mention Star Trek."
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http://trekmovie.com/2017/08/07/les...episodes-of-star-trek-discovery-are-terrific/
