Paramount/Warner Bros now promising 30 films in cinemas a year

Paramount’s David Ellison says that the combined Warner Bros and Paramount will have 30 movies in cinemas every year. Well, this is a little bit promising, even if it feels like it’s on the very ambitious side. The dust is starting to settle on the news that it’s Paramount that’ll now be acquiring Warner Bros ... Paramount/Warner Bros now promising 30 films in cinemas a year

Paramount’s David Ellison says that the combined Warner Bros and Paramount will have 30 movies in cinemas every year.

Well, this is a little bit promising, even if it feels like it’s on the very ambitious side. The dust is starting to settle on the news that it’s Paramount that’ll now be acquiring Warner Bros Discovery, and it appears that we’re in the ‘promising the Earth’ stage of the process.

When Netflix was the preferred bidder, we got a succession of interviews from its boss, Ted Sarandos, reverse-ferreting on his commitment to cinema releases. After suggesting that movies would head to his streaming service at some speed, he began becoming an unlikely advocate for theatrical releases. People watched on, stroking their chins.

Now it’s David Ellison, the CEO of Paramount, who appears to be promising the kind of things it’d be interested to fast forward five years to see if he can deliver.

He’s been on a conference call with analysts at the start of the week, and he’s told those listening that “as we have said consistently, we are committed to delivering a broad pipeline of high-quality storytelling, including 15 theatrical films per year per studio, for a total of at least 30 films annually.”

This is a ramping up of the movie output from both studios. Ellison reckons he’s already got Paramount to that level, albeit with contributions now from the likes of Max Landis and Brett Ratner. But still, a lot more films in cinemas is hard to sniff at.

Ellison has also confirmed that the plan will be to merge the Paramount+ and HBO Max streaming services into one as well. With a firm commitment to getting films to cinemas first.

It sounds at the very least as if movies will be committing to a 45 day theatrical window, but also, it all still feels a teeny bit pie in the sky this, not least in the current theatrical climate. Is Ellison saying what people want to hear? Almost certainly so. Will he back it up? Well, that’s the question. Time will tell…