We reported a while back that Paramount Pictures was somehow involved with Terminator 2: Judgment Day 3D- although not wanting to have public involvement in the promotion of it, which we had deemed as a tactical decision after Terminator Genisys.
Arnold Schwarzenegger recently declared that Paramount Pictures wanted nothing to do with Terminator 6 and thought another studio would be sought out; one that would be interested… then David Ellison (Terminator Genisys Producer and Skydance Productions owner) got James Cameron on board and what do you know… Paramount Pictures want a slice of the cake and they would be stupid not to want involvement… wouldn’t they?
After some rocky times and numerous flops at the box office, Paramount Pictures was in a situation where owners; Viacom, were not very happy and an internal battle was taking place within Paramount between the CEO of Paramount (and Parent company) Viacom’s CEO.
Philippe Dauman (former CEO of Viacom), tried to sell a 49% stake in Paramount to China’s Dalian Wanda Group, this not something the owners of Viacom (owners of Paramount, The Redstone Family) wanted and this led the firing of Dauman who got a nice severance deal for walking away (a glorified version of being fired).
Brad Grey (Former CEO and Chairman of Paramount) was then trying to put a plan of revitalizing Paramount into action and acknowledging that current strategies and releases were not up to scratch and promised a bright future for Paramount Pictures. It was great that Brad acknowledged that corner cutting with movie productions would be coming to an end at the studio. It has also been noted recently that Hollywood is not bringing in money and that consumers are unhappy with the products that Hollywood is producing. Brad Grey’s plan was to put Paramount Pictures back on the map and restore respect back to a brand which used to be one of the most trusted names in Hollywood.
Brad Grey did 12 years of service at Paramount as chairman and CEO, sadly recently Brad died from cancer before being allowed to turn things around with his future vision for Paramount. It was reported that Brad Grey was fired before the lead up to the Oscars but if you look at it posthumously it could just be a simple case of he knew he was ill and to avoid too much public interest in his ill health and other matters it might have simply been best to handle it this way in a an extremely difficult stage of his life without having a barrage of press attention that he really didn’t need at the end of his life.
We don’t think Brad was fired at all but this was perhaps the best strategy to deal with his health away from the public eye as much as possible.
Paramount launched the following statement about Brad leaving his role as CEO of Paramount:
“Brad has overseen the production and distribution of some of Paramount’s most celebrated hits, and more recently championed the successful relaunch of the studio’s television division. We are grateful for his 12 years of extraordinary service and wish him every continued success,”
Jim Gianopulos (former head of 20th Century Fox) is now running the show at Paramount Pictures. We know of the good relationship between Fox and Paramount in connection to James Cameron with the blockbuster hit ‘Titanic’ and ‘Avatar’; both directed by Jim.
Terminator 6 in the latest report is described as a “relaunch”.
David Ellison (Terminator 6 producer and Chief Executive Officer of Skydance Media) stated the following:
“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, 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.”
Jim Gianopulos (Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Paramount Pictures) stated the following about the relationship renewel of Skydance and Paramount Pictures:
“David and his team have been creative producers on films in some of the most successful action-adventure and science fiction franchises of all time, and we’re thrilled that Skydance movies will feature prominently on the Paramount slate for years to come, Skydance has been a key part of Paramount’s history and I am confident that our partnership will continue to deliver many successes both commercially and financially into the future.”
So, how does this work for the business relationship and the future of Terminator?
Paramount will have the opportunity to co-finance and distribute the films that Skydance produces and Skydance has the option to co-produce and co-finance certain Paramount feature films.
Paramount have taken investment from China in a more limited deal than allowing major shares to be taken over and Skydance will also continue to select/co-partner on certain projects eg. the new Terminator Relaunch/Reboot; which Skydance owns rights to.
Are Paramount and Skydance going to be making great movies and take Hollywood by storm, the chances look pretty good to be honest but the proof as always will be the pudding and the projects they deliver to audiences.
Good luck Skydance and Paramount and RIP Brad Grey, hopefully this legacy and partnership between Paramount and Skydance under direction from Jim Gianopulos and David Ellison will go on to make the successful future vision for Paramount a reality!
Source: ComingSoon.net