Posted in: Movies, Paramount Pictures | Tagged: star trek, top gun, transformers

Paramount Says Top Gun 3, Star Trek, And Transformers Are "A Priority"

In light of the merger with Skydance, Paramount Pictures says that Top Gun, Star Trek, and Transformers are "a priority" for the studio.

Paramount Pictures is out here trying to convince all of us that this merger with Skydance was a good idea and absolutely nothing is going wrong. The studio has been on an interesting journey for the last couple of years. They remained committed to the theatrical model in the wake of the pandemic and, unlike their competition, didn't give in to the pressure to release films on PVOD or sell them to streaming. The commitment to the theatrical model worked out for them in terms of the box office for Top Gun: Maverick, but the studio has been on a rollercoaster. Between streaming numbers and some pretty big movies underperforming, the studio has needed a steadying hand for a while now.

Recently, Paramount's new leadership, headed by Josh Greenstein and Dana Goldberg, explained to everyone (via Deadline) what the future looked like for the studio. Several franchises got name-dropped: "Star Trek is a priority across the company. … Top Gun is a priority for us," said Goldberg. They are also focusing on Transformers, a third Quiet Place film will be here soon, and a variety of tones and genres. "Greenstein and Goldberg, as expressed this afternoon, are four-quadrant family movies and R-rated comedies."

We heard something similar from Amazon MGM Studios at South by Southwest earlier this year, but Paramount remains committed to the theatrical experience, including a theatrical window that isn't 3-5 business days. Reports say they are shooting for 15 films a year with the ultimate goal being 20, but Cindy Holland, Chair of Direct to Consumer, said, "Made for streaming movies aren't a priority for me." It seems we might have reached the final conclusion on the streaming expedient after the industry was forcefully drop-kicked and forced to confront it because of the pandemic. More and more studios seem to be finding that the pivot to streaming was not the money maker they thought it was, and there are still plenty of people interested in seeing a movie on the biggest screen possible.

The three IPs named by Paramount as "priorities" are not at all surprising. Top Gun: Maverick was massive in 2022, even bigger than anyone intended, as it joined the Billion-Dollar Box Office Club. It did well with audiences and was a critical smash where so many other legacy sequels have fallen short. There have been various reports about a third film, and while it hasn't "officially" been announced, we all know it's coming.

Star Trek and Transformers are also not surprising, if the former is a bit laughable, all things considered. Star Trek has been cruising comfortably on TV since well before the pandemic. The last time a Star Trek film graced our screens was in 2016 with Star Trek Beyond, which failed to find an audience despite being the far superior entry in the Kelvin trilogy. Since then, a fourth film has been in some nebulous state, and every now and then they sign on a new director, nothing happens, and the director leaves. The biggest indicator of how bad the behind-the-scenes stuff for Star Trek 4 was when it appeared they announced a release date without talking to any of the cast members to see if they could shoot within that time frame.

Finally, Transformers, which kept the lights on at Paramount for several years. The last live-action film was released in 2023, and while it didn't do badly at all, it wasn't the franchise starter that Paramount wanted. Then Paramount did something that should have worked out but somehow failed and released an animated Transformers film, Transformers One, which ruled and not nearly enough of you went to see, which is a statement I never thought I'd say about a modern-day Transformers film. There have been rumblings about the next Transformers film for a while. Deadline reports, "Prior to the sale, the studio had three separate scripts in development, including one that sources say has Michael Bay returning to the franchise. Those scripts should be ready for new leadership to take a look at shortly."

Paramount has some films that could be heavy hitters coming out before 2025 is over, such as The Running Man and Regretting You, because movies based on Colleen Hoover's books are becoming this decade's "based on a novel by Nicolas Sparks." There's also another SpongeBob movie, and that fanbase isn't going anywhere, and Roofman, which is based on a true story, is also so buckwild that it seems fictional, which might be a draw for audiences.

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