David Ellison Is Promising Theater Owners Contractual Guarantees for Paramount-Warner Bros. 30-Film Annual Slate. But What if Moviegoers Don’t Care?
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- Paramount Skydance is offering AMC Entertainment and Regal Cinemas three-year contractual guarantees for 30 theatrical releases annually with 45-day exclusive windows and a 90-day streaming moratorium, with potential financial penalties if Paramount breaches the commitment.
- Paramount's 2026 film slate nearly doubled to 15 titles from 8 in 2025, but the company told Wall Street it expects "significantly lower theatrical revenue year-over-year" from lower average box office per release.
- Paramount Pictures' Q2 2026 theatrical revenue plummeted 45% to $138 million, with the quarter's biggest release being "Scary Movie" at $108 million domestic and $231 million worldwide since its June 5 debut.
- Paramount currently lacks a billion-dollar smash comparable to Disney-Pixar's "Toy Story 5," Universal's Christopher Nolan-directed "The Odyssey," Sony's "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" or Lionsgate's "Michael."
- The 30-film pledge is designed to counter an antitrust lawsuit from 12 state attorneys general alleging excessive market control; the trial is slated for March 2027, and the guarantee does not address the states' separate allegation about cable-TV market power.
- Ellison acknowledged in a New York Times op-ed that he cannot guarantee any single film's financial performance, writing only that he can promise "the work, and more of it."
Why it matters: For Ellison, the 30-film pledge doubles as a courtroom weapon against the 12 state AGs suing to block the merger, with a March 2027 trial looming — yet Paramount's own Q2 numbers show the doubled slate coincided with a 45% revenue drop, handing theaters more films that don't fill seats.
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