Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter

NEWS ABOUT: Paramount

Paramount stories: 19 news summaries

 Hollywood Heads Roll 
 as DVD Sales Plunge 

New studio heads place bets on 'branded entertainment'

Oct 8, 09 8:44 AM CDT
(Newser) - In previous downturns, the corporate owners of America's movie studios would cut Hollywood some slack. Not anymore: these days, the corporate suites of LA look like the aftermath of a slasher flick, with old hands kicked out at Disney, Universal, MGM, and Paramount. With DVD sales down 25% and... More »

MORE ABOUT:
entertainment • Hollywood • Disney • recession • Universal Pictures • Paramount • MGM • movie industry • firing

(Newser) - Studios used to spending August releasing movies from slightly out in left field, free from the pressure of early summer blockbusters, are finding this year more stressful than usual, the New York Times reports. A soft four weeks has put releases such as Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds under pressure to... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Sony • box office • Warner Brothers • Paramount • movie industry • Hollywood studios • summer movies • Inglourious Basterds

 Hollywood Reeling 
 From DVD Slump 

Disappearing profits threaten movies, star deals

Jan 16, 09 6:40 AM CST
(Newser) - Hollywood studios are faced with huge losses because of a 21% slump in DVD sales and the fallout from the crisis on Wall Street, reports the Financial Times. Studio heads have been forced to cut back on the number of new movies in production and are preparing to trim the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Hollywood • Viacom • Steven Spielberg • NBC Universal • DVD • Sony • Paramount • studios • News Corp • Blu-ray • recession depression

Spielberg Pays Bills for Ailing DreamWorks

Credit crunch forces director into personal bailout for studio

Jan 15, 09 10:51 AM CST
(Newser) - Perhaps for the first time, Steven Spielberg is using personal funds to pay half of a $26.5 million bill his company, DreamWorks, owes ex-partner Paramount so it can keep 17 film projects under its wing. Due to cash shortages, the studio has already lost the rights to as many... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Hollywood • Steven Spielberg • recession • DreamWorks • credit crisis • Paramount • Hollywood producers • JPMorgan Chase • financing • financial crisis • Reliance

Cash-Strapped Studios Spend Big on Oscars

Pricey ads run for contenders despite industry layoffs

Dec 20, 08 10:00 AM CST
(Newser) - America's financial crisis hasn't stopped studios from dropping big money in their quest for Oscars, Nikki Finke writes on Deadline Hollywood Daily. Amid layoffs and cutbacks, Paramount took out 7 full-page ads for Revolutionary Road in the New York Times, and Disney spent $675,000 for a Wall-E insert in... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Academy Awards • award show • Paramount • Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences • movies • Wall-E • Revolutionary Road • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button • Oscars

 Audiences Flock to Madagascar 

Animated flick wins weekend box office

Nov 9, 08 4:27 PM CST
(Newser) - Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa had the year's best opening for an animated family flick, pulling in $63.5 million to win the weekend box office, Variety reports. R-rated gross-out comedy Role Models, meanwhile, surprised by taking second place with $19.3 million. The remaining top five: High School Musical 3:... More »

MORE ABOUT:
animation • DreamWorks • box office • Paramount • movies • animated movie • Zack and Miri Make a Porno • Changeling • High School Musical 3 • Role Models

 Spielberg 
 Strikes Huge 
 Universal Deal 

Universal Studios to distribute up to 6 films a year

Oct 14, 08 10:29 AM CDT
(Newser) - Steven Spielberg is returning to the Hollywood studio where he made his classic blockbusters Jaws and ET.  Spielberg's DreamWorks, backed with $1.4 billion in new financing, has struck a seven-year distribution deal with Universal for as many as six new releases a year, according to the Hollywood Reporter.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
David Geffen • Steven Spielberg • Universal Studios • Jaws • DreamWorks • Stacey Snider • Paramount • E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial

 Jones Sues
 for $10M in
 No Country Pay

Paramount hasn't coughed up promised bonuses, he argues

Sep 7, 08 7:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - Actor Tommy Lee Jones has sued the producers of Oscar Award-winning No Country for Old Men for $10 million he claims is owed him. The suit charges Paramount Pictures failed to pay Jones a promised chunk of "significant box-office bonuses" and other compensation linked to the success of the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
film • Paramount Pictures • Tommy Lee Jones • Paramount • Coen brothers • No Country for Old Men • movies

 Summer Movies Smash Record

Blockbusters boost studios to record-breaking sales

Aug 28, 08 9:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Hollywood studios are reeling in their highest-grossing summer ever, the Los Angeles Times reports. Domestic ticket sales stand at $3.9 billion, up from last year's record-breaking summer. A steady stream of smash hits—and higher ticket prices—accounted for the record take, more than making up for costly flops... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Universal Studios • Disney • box office • The Dark Knight • Warner Brothers • Paramount • movie industry • movies • Hollywood studios • Iron Man • 20th Century Fox

 Get Smart
 Gets Rich
 at Box Office 

Mike Myers' 'Love Guru' fails to impress

Jun 22, 08 3:36 PM CDT
(Newser) - Mike Myers' Love Guru failed to work its mojo at the box office this weekend, caving to Get Smart, which raked in $39.1 million. It wasn't a close race: Myers' live-action comedy grossed $14 million, coming in at No. 4. The Incredible Hulk and Kung Fu Panda—in their... More »

MORE ABOUT:
box office • Universal Pictures • Michael Myers • Warner Brothers • Paramount • The Incredible Hulk • The Love Guru • Kung Fu Panda • Get Smart

DreamWorks Near Bollywood Alliance

Deal would speed Spielberg team's Paramount departure

Jun 18, 08 10:09 AM CDT
(Newser) - Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks venture is closing in on a deal with an Indian media conglomerate that could fund a break from Paramount Pictures, the Wall Street Journal reports. Mumbai-based Reliance, a conglomerate with stakes in telecom, finance, and entertainment looking to expand into Hollywood, could bring as much as $600... More »

MORE ABOUT:
David Geffen • Viacom • Steven Spielberg • Bollywood • Jeffrey Katzenberg • DreamWorks • Paramount • Reliance ADA Group



 Iron Man  
 Blasts Off 
 at Box Office 

Action flick is 10th highest opener ever

May 4, 08 4:56 PM CDT
(Newser) - Paramount and Marvel struck gold with Iron Man this weekend, raking in $201 million worldwide in the tenth-best opening ever, Variety reports. The male-skewing film left room for Made of Honor to draw in women and $15.5 million in second spot.  More »

MORE ABOUT:
Marvel Comics • Paramount Pictures • box office • Robert Downey Jr. • Paramount • Iron Man

Warner Bros. Backs Blu-Ray

Future of HD DVD format now in question

Jan 5, 08 6:59 AM CST
(Newser) - Warner Bros. will release new high-def films exclusively in Blu-ray format, the Wall Street Journal reports. The decision marks a major setback for the embattled rival HD DVD format—now adopted by only two studios, Universal and Paramount—and could be a tipping point in the ongoing format war that... More »

MORE ABOUT:
HD DVD • Universal Studios • Blu ray • Warner Brothers • Paramount

Things That Won't Shake
The Media World in 2008

BusinessWeek columnist takes a stab at '08 predictions

Dec 28, 07 7:36 PM CST
(Newser) - Overloaded with prediction lists, Business Week polishes the crystal ball and looks ahead to see what won't happen in the media world  in 2008.
  1. The writers won't win the current strike
  2. DreamWorks isn't going to leave Paramount after all
  3. Apple won't reinvent TV viewing
  4. "Juno" won't win
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
media • Google • Indiana Jones • Katie Couric • Apple • list • Pixar • Disney • Fox Business Network • DreamWorks • Paramount • predictions • Hollywood writers' strike • Juno • MGM

Microsoft, Viacom Ally to Check Google

Partnership aims to counter search giant's ad growth

Dec 20, 07 9:34 AM CST
(Newser) - Microsoft and Viacom joined forces to counter Google's growth in the ad market yesterday, with a 5-year, $500-million partnership. Microsoft gets audio and video content from Viacom, and is a preferred partner in online gaming. Viacom will switch its ad placement from DoubleClick, which Google is about to buy, to... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Google • Viacom • YouTube • Microsoft • MTV • aQuantive • DoubleClick • Comedy Central • Paramount • Internet advertising

Why Can't They Just Get Along?

Inside the bitter feud that's breaking up Dreamworks and Paramount

Nov 17, 07 4:25 PM CST
(Newser) - Less than two years after Paramount acquired DreamWorks, executive tempers have boiled over. The much-heralded union has degenerated into a series of scathing personal attacks between the principals, Sumner Redstone and David Geffen. Shuttling between the bigwigs, Vanity Fair offers an in-depth look at the Hollywood war—and maybe even... More »

MORE ABOUT:
David Geffen • Hollywood • Steven Spielberg • feud • DreamWorks • Paramount

I Am Not a
Kook But I Play One on TV

Shatner uninvited to reprise Capt. Kirk in new Trek flick

Oct 27, 07 8:29 AM CDT
(Newser) - Beam me up, Scotty...please?  When the gazillionth Star Trek movie goes into production, it will go there without the original Captain Kirk. While the latest movie incarnation of Star Trek will include the veteran Spock character, played by Leonard Nimoy, director J.J Abrams has passed on including William... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Paramount • Star Trek • William Shatner • Leonard Nimoy • Boston Legal

Hey Brother, Can You Spare
a Screenplay?

Hollywood desperate
to finish scripts before Halloween writer strike

Oct 24, 07 1:06 PM CDT
(Newser) - Last week, Paramount issued an urgent call for someone, anyone, to doctor its Wolverine script—fast. Across Hollywood, studios and writers alike are desperately rushing to finish scripts before the Writers' Guild’s Halloween strike deadline, the LA Times reports. “Everybody is living in the impending doom,” said... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Hollywood • strike • Paramount • X Men • Wolverine • Da Vinci Code • Writers Guild of America • Hollywood writers' strike

Hard Work Has Cruise's Studio Poised to Strike

Now, a big hit would complete resuscitation of United Artists

Oct 4, 07 3:57 PM CDT
(Newser) - Tom Cruise and longtime producing partner Paula Wagner, 15 months after being publicly bounced from Paramount, have a line of high-end films ready to roll as they attempt to rejuvenate the United Artists studio. A hit would solidify the pair's rebuilding effort, Business Week reports, and first up is Cruise... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Hollywood • Tom Cruise • Sumner Redstone • film studio • Paramount • Paula Wagner

19 Stories


from our news partners