We’re going to guess Jim Gianopulos knew he’d have a rocky slate on his hands when he agreed to take over Paramount Pictures as Chairman and CEO almost a year ago, but he couldn’t have imagined it would be as dire as it actually turned out to be. The former Chairman of 20th Century Fox found a studio that had arguably just two real tentpoles set for the next 18 months (“Transformers: The Last Knight,” “Mission: Impossible-Fallout”), a rare Dwayne Johnson comedy that no one would be interested in (“Baywatch”), a terrible horror sequel that had been on the shelf forever (“Rings”), a comedy sequel with the still-problematic Mel Gibson (the barely profitable “Daddy’s Home 2”) and three prestige flicks from acclaimed directors that shockingly had no real potential to break out (“Downsizing,” “Suburbicon” and “Mother!”). The latter was inexplicably bad luck considering those filmmakers track records, but 2017 was simply rough, to say the least.
The past three and a half months haven’t been much more fun for the venerable Melrose Ave. institution. The studio sold the god-awful “Cloverfield Paradox” (greenlit long before Gianopulos’ reign as “God Particle”) to Netflix in something of a fire sale (more on that in a minute) which looked bad publicly even if it saved the studio from spending marketing dollars it would never be able to recoup. And, of course, Gianopulos sold international rights to Alex Garland’s critically acclaimed “Annihilation” to Netflix causing an uproar with cinephiles on social media. The same social media who then ridiculously insisted the studio hadn’t supported the movie domestically despite the obvious millions spent on TV spots, online and social media ads (you couldn’t miss them on Instagram), outdoor billboards and a strong publicity campaign because the staff simply had no other movie to work on. And, frankly, Gianopulos came out a winner on his call. The sci-fi drama has earned back just $32.5 million which means even if Netflix only paid for half of its $40 million production budget (they arguably paid more) it meant a smaller loss than the studio can handle under the watchful eye of its Viacom overloads. Oh, and did we mention the disaster the studio’s decision to distribute the animated “Sherlock Gnomes” turned out to be? Perhaps that’s better left unsaid. In any case, this is why the massive success of John Krasinski’s “A Quiet Place” has allowed the studio to have a momentary sigh of relief today.
With $71 million at the global box office after just three days and relatively minuscule $17 million production budget, “A Quiet Place” is the sort of cash cow Paramount hasn’t seen since the “Paranormal Activity” franchise started its short run almost a decade ago. That cash may also be needed with some questionable hitmakers on a very slim docket for the rest of 2018.
“Book Club” with Diane Keaton and Jane Fonda is hoping to turn into an alternative “Exotic Marigold Hotel” in May, but the materials so far don’t make it feel like a “must-see” in theaters. “Action Point” is another narrative “Jackass”-inspired comedy from Johnny Knoxville that likely cost less than $20 million and dreams of coming close to the $100 million “Bad Grandpa” made five years ago (let’s see if it can do that opposite summer competition). “Mission: Impossible – Fallout,” on the other hand, will absolutely be a smash. The last two “Mission: Impossible” installments have each been significant moneymakers with over $650 million global. Even with Tom Cruise’s significant cut, this one will be too, but that profit was the baseline for Paramount this year.
Then things get dicey. J.J. Abrams’ “Overlord,” seemingly another “Cloverfield” spin-off,” arrives in October. Will they put the “Cloverfield” brand on it after “Paradox” or not? Will it help or hurt after how badly ‘Paradox’ was received? Tyler Perry’s “The List,” the first in the prolific filmmakers new deal with the studio, arrives on Nov. 2. This won’t be a Madea movie, however, and even with Taraji P. Henson and Tiffany Haddish as your leads, there’s no guarantee it’s not going to make more than “Acrimony” at the box office (a fading fast $31 million after just 10 days). Perry’s melodramas have not performed as well as his comedies in some time (and no one wants to think it but by November we may have reached beyond “peak” Tiffany Haddish love).
Paramount’s holiday hopes likely lie with “Bumblebee,” the first “Transformers” spin-off directed by Travis Knight (“Kubo and the Two Strings”) and set in 1987. It seems just different enough from the Michael Bay flicks that it could pop, but it’s going to face a ton of competition from “Aquaman,” “Mary Poppins Returns” and “Mortal Engines,” among others. Granted, the studio could still add more to its release schedule the second half of the year (and the upcoming CinemaCon might be where they make those announcements), but outside of the seemingly director-less “The Black Hand” with Leonardo DiCaprio that seems unlikely right now.
But wait, there’s more.
If you’ve been paying attention to casting and development news over the past six months or so you’ve likely seen a number of projects being announced or discussed under the Paramount Players banner. A lot of people in town haven’t exactly been sure what the point of the division was even though it was announced as a banner for films developed from sister Viacom properties such as MTV, Nickelodeon, VH1, Comedy Central, BET, etc.. What was quizzical was for almost 20 years Paramount has made films under MTV and Nickelodeon banners before dropping them because they weren’t prolific enough. There was even an MTV Films division that brought you Alexander Payne’s “Election” and the forgotten Scarlett Johansson and Chris Evans teen melodrama “The Score.” And two “Spongebob” movies have been huge moneymakers even without a real Nickelodeon Movies group to shepherd them. Intriguingly, Players has been put in the hands of Brian Robbins who actually directed “The Perfect Score” as well as a slew of bad Eddie Murphy movies (including the notorious “Norbit”), but I digress. The question is why this division and why now?
The reason Players was partially formed was so the studio could save money by having the marketing cost of those films be shepherded by those network brands. These films are supposed to be of the ‘Quiet Place’ variety. That means under $30 million and a specific genre (or demo) play, at best. Again, the studio is releasing just nine movies this year. More and more films will be under the Paramount Players banner to defray potential losses. You can pretty much bet these films are not going to be the “Fences,” “Wolf of Wall Street” and “Arrival” variety, either. Don’t blame Gianopulos, however. This is simply what happens when you are forced to take drastic measure to save a studio from the brink. And “A Quiet Place” is a bright light that should keep the fire going (at least when the year-end financials come to pass).
(Or make things look good enough to prop up Viacom’s stock price for that CBS merger that the whole town assumes is happening even if it might not. )
(But, really. That merger has to happen, right?)
For anyone wondering about the awards possibilities regarding “A Quiet Place” you aren’t the only one. This pundit’s schedule meant screening it this past Saturday night and only in Los Angeles do the credits roll and you hear other patrons wondering about Oscar chances. As always, if the Academy loves it anything is possible and Paramount, assuming they even spend for awards campaigns in this new era, can push the comparison to Best Picture nominee “The Sixth Sense” (you can drop the “Get Out” ones, that film has a socio-political theme completely missing here). Realistically, the sound categories and Original Score are the safest bets. If Original Screenplay is weak it’s possible and we still think Millicent Simmonds has a longshot chance in Supporting Actress, even if some are not as high on her performance as we are. Moreover, based on the box office success “A Quiet Place” could easily be a SAG Ensemble player and find itself on National Board of Review’s AFI’s Top 10 year-end lists. And if those truly come to pass? Anything is possible.
