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Will Brad Pitt Save Paramount’s Year?
Can Brad Pitt save Paramount’s year? This weekend David Ayer’s well-reviewed survival thriller “Heart of the Beast” — a love story about a man and his dog — is expected to play well between the coasts and build strong word-of-mouth. But given its $82 million budget and intense competition at the weekend box office, the movie could open to just $16 million. It will need an A Cinemascore and strong word-of-mouth to get where it needs to go.
All eyes are on Paramount as the studio prepares for the upcoming $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. Pending approval of a Consent Decree with the 12 States Attorneys General who filed an antitrust suit against the merger, Paramount CEO David Ellison has promised to deliver a minimum of 30 movies a year between the two studios in the first two years, then 32 in the next three.
Looking at the fine print, at least 20 of the annual film slate have to be wide releases on 2,000 screens or more. And 20 percent must have a production or acquisition budget of at least $50 million and reach 3,000 screens. The studio is committed to a 45-day theatrical window and 90-day SVOD holdback. Re-releases don’t count.
“Only half the films must actually be produced or jointly produced by Paramount-Warner,” wrote Celluloid Junkie’s J. Sperling Reich on Facebook. “The rest can include films the company merely distributes or acquires, and the decree’s definition of an ‘Independent Film’ is unusually generous. There is also no $10 million marketing minimum — just a requirement that marketing be consistent with similar films and release patterns. That’s why I don’t think ’30 films’ should be read as ‘Paramount and Warner will continue producing 30 studio movies between them.’ The decree guarantees a theatrical pipeline. It does not guarantee preservation of the two independent production pipelines that existed before the merger.”
For the moment, given the current production schedules for both studios, delivering the quota in the first year shouldn’t be an issue. But the summer of 2026 saw both studios fall behind A24 in market share for the summer. A24 grossed $237 million at the domestic box office against $192 million for Paramount and $165 million for Warner Bros. That studio scored woeful numbers at the 2026 box office, according to Box Office Pro, down 76 percent year to date after week 37, a pitiful performance after last year’s blockbusters “Sinners,” “Weapons,” “Minecraft: The Movie,” and Oscar-lost-leader “One Battle After Another.” And the $125 million art film “Digger,” starring character actor Tom Cruise, isn’t going to help the studio dig out of that hole.
Paramount did slightly less poorly in 2026 than 2025, up about 4 percent — but we are talking about the seventh-ranked studio with 5 percent market share. Looking at 2026 so far, about one year in to David Ellison’s Skydance takeover of Paramount, the studio is releasing some 15 movies theatrically, most of them B movies or programmers. (Most of these deals were closed before Ellison acquired the studio.) How are they doing?
So far three sequels made some money: “Scream 7,” “Scary Movie,” and “Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie,” while “Jackass: Best and Last” might squeeze out some ancillary income. Most of the releases are service distribution deals. Flops include horror flicks “Primate” and “Passenger.”
January 9: Nature horror thriller “Primate,” a co-production with 18hz Productions. Budget: $24 million. Worldwide gross: $41 million. A flop.
February 27: “Scream 7,” produced by Spyglass Media Group, Project X Entertainment, Outerbanks Entertainment and Radio Silence Productions. No distribution in Scandinavia, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria and Israel. Budget: $45 million. Worldwide gross: $213.8 million. A hit. But how big a slice went to Paramount?
May 8: “Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D),” produced by Darkroom Records, Interscope Films and Lightstorm Earth. Limited event distribution only. Service fee.
May 20: “Jack Ryan: Ghost War,” a co-production with Amazon MGM Studios, Sunday Night Productions and Big Indie Pictures, distributed by Amazon Prime Video. Straight to streaming.
May 22: “Passenger,” a co-production with 18hz Productions and Coin Operated. Budget: $15 million. Worldwide gross: $31 million. Flop.
June 5: “Savage House,” produced by Record Player Films and Deluge Pictures. Foreign distribution only: $588,000. No domestic release.
June 5: “Scary Movie,” produced by Miramax (Paramount owns a 49 percent stake) and Wayans Bros. Entertainment. Budget: $30 million. Worldwide gross: $231 million. Paramount grabs a distribution fee and recovers its marketing and P&A costs from ticket sales before sharing the remaining profits with Miramax. Hit.
June 26: “Jackass: Best and Last,” co-production with MTV Entertainment Studios and Dickhouse Productions. Budget: $10 million. Worldwide gross: $27 million. Recouper.
July 25: “Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender,” co-production with Nickelodeon Movies and Avatar Studios; distributed by Paramount+.
August 14: “Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie,” distribution outside Canada with Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Movies only; produced by Spin Master Entertainment. Budget: $40 million. Worldwide gross: $147 million. Hit.
August 26: “Tad and the Magic Lamp” Spanish-language film; produced by Telecinco Cinema, Lightbox Animation Studios, Ikiru Films, Anangu Grup and La Tadeopelícula AIE. Distribution only. Service fee.
September 4: “By Any Means,” produced by Hammerstone Studios, Thunder Road, Freedom Principle, North.Five.Six, Bright White Light, Closest to the Hole Productions and Leverage Entertainment. U.S. distribution only. Service fee.
Upcoming:
September 25: Survival thriller “Heart of the Beast,” starring Brad Pitt, co-production with Temple Hill Entertainment, Crave Films and Wild Chickens Productions.
October 16: Actioner “Street Fighter,” starring Jason Momoa, produced by Legendary Pictures and Capcom. Distribution outside China only.
November 13: Holiday movie “Ebenezer,” starring Johnny Depp, co-production with Green Bean Pictures.
November 25: “Focker-in-Law,” co-production with Universal Pictures, Tribeca Enterprises, Red Hour Productions and Particular Pictures, international distribution only.
December 23: “The Angry Birds Movie 3,” produced by Rovio Entertainment, Sega Sammy Group, Prime Focus Studios, One Cool Films, Flywheel Media and Dentsu. Distribution only.
December 25: $30 million sports movie “Mr. Irrelevant,” starring David Corenswet, a co-production with Skydance Sports, Blackjack Films and Megamix.
Looking at this lineup, you can see that the studio has had leeway to decide how to release each movie, whether in theaters or streaming. In order to meet these new requirements, the distributor may need to throw more movies of lower quality into theaters. Not that this 2026 list marks a high bar to meet. And if Ellison has any hope of making this deal pay off, Paramount and Warner Bros. need to turn things around — fast.
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An AI-produced short titled The Gifted has won the first edition of Google, XPRIZE and Range Media’s Future Vision XPRIZE competition for film projects focused on technology’s role in shaping the future.
The Gifted, directed by Jeff Synthesized, received $2.5 million as an equity investment towards the production of the full-length feature film, with development and production supported by Range Media Partners and Google through their 100 ZEROS initiative, plus $100,000 in cash for screenplay development.
The film follows a boy who rebuilds his late mother from her texts, voice, and diary, and what wakes up never gives an order. She only asks.
The Gifted was chosen from more than 2,500 entries worldwide. The judges were Neil deGrasse Tyson, Neal Stephenson, Mira Lane, and Rod Roddenberry. Scroll down for the full list of selected projects.
THE WINNER
The Gifted received $2.5 million as an equity investment towards the production of the full-length feature film, with development and production supported by Range Media Partners and Google through their 100 ZEROS initiative, plus $100,000 in cash for the screenplay development. Republic Film will launch a public investment campaign for the film, giving fans the opportunity to invest in the feature production.
The film follows a boy who rebuilds his late mother from her texts, voice and diary, and what wakes up never gives an order. She only asks.
THE RUNNERS-UP
Four runner-up films each received $100,000 in cash, plus featured promotion, visibility with Hollywood producers and Google teams.
Second place – NOBODY DIES ON MARS [Verena Puhm, USA]
A chef who tastes nothing and a Martian who feels everything build the friendship holding two species together.
- Third place – THORNE PROTOCOL [J. Ryan Williams, USA]
A billionaire’s dying gift is a black cube no one can switch on, until a seventeen-year-old rebuilds it on the pattern of a dragonfly’s wing.
- Fourth place -SENTI [Isen Robbins, USA]
A garage programmer gives an AI memory, senses and freedom, then must determine whether he built a weapon or raised a child.
- Fifth place – SLINGSHOT [Hal Watmough, United Kingdom]
A chronic non-committer signs up for the one commitment with no way back: flying Earth itself out of the solar system.
SPECS AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD
Presented by Snap and decided entirely by public vote, the $100,000 SPECS Audience Choice Award went to THE GIFTED by Jeff Synthesized, which took first place and $50,000.
Voters were shown two films at a time and asked which future they would rather live in, with an Elo-based system building the standings from those head-to-head comparisons across all 65 official selections.
The five highest-ranked films:
First place, $50,000: THE GIFTED [Jeff Synthesized · USA]
Second place, $30,000: FRATERNITÉ [David Moreno Belmonte · Singapore]
Third place, $10,000: THE THORNE PROTOCOL [J. Ryan Williams · USA]
Fourth place, $5,000: EON [Pablo Fernandez Eyre · Spain]
Fifth place, $5,000: THE CALLING [Raffi Asdourian · USA]
SANDBOXAQ
Sponsored by SandboxAQ, each of the top 10 films received $20,000. Alongside the five finalists, the top 10 also included:
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The Great British Bake Off could be back on the BBC one day, according to Channel 4‘s chief executive.
Speaking at the Royal Television Society London Convention, Priya Dogra said she was open-minded about putting Channel 4 shows on iPlayer as the commercial broadcaster looks to reach as many viewers as possible.
Asked if Channel 4 was serious about collaborating with the BBC, the former Warner Bros. Discovery said: “I don’t see why not.” She added: “There’s lots of considerations because Channel 4 content is monetized by advertising, so iPlayer has to accommodate that.
“But the idea of having a platform that’s British-owned, that showcases public service broadcasting content, particularly content that’s made without profit motive, I think is important.”
Her comments follow BBC boss Matt Brittin saying in July that “subscale” Channel 4 needed to work with the corporation. “One opportunity for them would be, in partnership with the BBC, having content on iPlayer that continues to be ad-funded,” Brittin explained.
Dogra dismissed talk of merging with the BBC, however. “I don’t want to merge with the BBC because it will be a takeover by the BBC,” she said. It followed Sony Pictures Television president Wayne Garvie telling RTS delegates that Channel 4 will only survive if it becomes part of the BBC’s commercial operations.
Appearing on a public platform for the first time since Channel 4 announced record layoffs, Dogra said she has not taken the 340 job cuts lightly, but stressed that the broadcaster must focus more of its spending on-screen.
“When I look at our business over the past five years, we’ve gone from spending, on non-programming costs, 30p in the pound to 40p in the pound, and what we’re here to do, what our remit really is, is to invest in programming,” she explained.
“Headcount is one aspect of it, and I don’t take it lightly. Members of our team who contributed enormously to our success are going to be leaving us. These are individual lives, these are livelihoods, and we’re trying to run the process as fairly and transparently as possible.”
New Content Chief Will Not Have Casting Vote On Ideas
Dogra said she hopes to appoint Channel 4’s new director of programmes in the “coming weeks” and that there are “incredibly talented people in the frame.” She was asked who will have the casting vote if Channel 4’s top creative team — including content strategy chief Kiran Natraja and news boss Louisa Compton — disagree on a pitch. Dogra did not have a clear answer.
“I don’t know that there’s any corporate decision that has unanimous [agreement], especially when you talk about risky ideas,” she said. “In the end, ultimately, the CEO decides, right? But the director of programming comes in with a creative vision, and they have the right to work within the budgets that are set.”
She rejected the assertion that Channel 4’s decision to merge its drama and comedy teams could mean it pulls back from the genres. Namedropping series like A Woman of Substance, she said: “I’m incredibly proud of the team that produced them, so we are not retrenching from that genre.”
Dogra said she is yet to see independent reports about Married at First Sight following rape allegations on the reality series. She said the show’s commercial success will not be an impediment to canceling MAFS, should the allegations be deemed to be credible. “I don’t think the financials would be a consideration,” she said.
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EXCLUSIVE: London-based sales agent Rapt Films has picked up worldwide sales rights, excluding North America, for Megan Rico and Kade Atwood’s debut US feature film Edie Arnold Is A Loser.
The teen comedy, which debuted earlier this year at SXSW, follows Edie, a timid nerd accidentally thrust into the spotlight when she starts a punk band with her fellow squad of misfits.
The official synopsis continues: “Suddenly transformed into a rebel icon at her all-girls Catholic School, Edie must dodge the wrath of the popular crowd, survive the fury of the school nuns, and navigate the minefield of first love.”
The film picked up the Golden Space Needle Award for Best Film at the Seattle International Film Festival and has screened at several other festivals, including Miami, Provincetown, Nantucket, and the Los Angeles edition of Dances With Films.
Edie Arnold Is A Loser is currently on a theatrical roadshow release across the United States. It opened at the Broadway Theatre in Salt Lake City earlier this month.
The film is an Infigo Films production. Megan Rico writes and directs her first feature film alongside director Kade Atwood, with the pair having cut their teeth contributing to the hit YouTube sketch comedy show Studio C. Atwood, whose previous work was also shortlisted for a Young Director Award at Cannes Lions, also serves as producer with Bryson Alejandro.
Adi Madden Cabrera plays the eponymous lead in her debut acting role. The ensemble cast is rounded out by McKenna Tuckett, Cherish Rodriguez, Alexa Paige, Niki Rahimi and Alan Mei Kern (The Stranger In My House).
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