In 2019, Paramount seemed to have its days numbered. There were those who spoke of a possible sale to Disney, of the hasty closure of Paramount+… But we are only four years later, with a pandemic in between, and it seems that where it puts the eye, it puts the bullet. But, what has happened for Paramount to stand up to the rest of the majors?
Tom Cruise and Sonic
Year 2018: In a world plagued by Marvel, ‘Mission Impossible – Fallout’ appears in the 8th place of the highest grossing films of the year, with 791 million dollars. To find the next Paramount, ‘Bumblebee’, we have to go to 19th place, with 467 million. ‘A quiet place’ in 32 barely got 340 million. The rest of his options sank down the ranking.
Year 2019: the disaster. Paramount’s most successful film appears in rank 30 of the highest box offices of the year: ‘Terminator: Dark Fate’, with 261 million dollars. ‘Rocketman’, in 43, it didn’t even reach 200 million. It went down to become the sixth most successful distributor of the year. And then, in full debacle, came the pandemic.
And in the midst of a pandemic, a flash of light on Paramount’s horizon: ‘Sonic’ raised 319 million dollars around the world, becoming the sixth highest-grossing film internationally and the second in the United States. It didn’t matter that the rest of his releases were an absolute failure or went directly to Netflix, like ‘Of love and monsters’. The seed was planted.
2021 was a transition year for everyone as Paramount was preparing to the blow on the table that would give the following year: put ‘A quiet place 2’ in the top 15 of the year, with 297 million worldwide, and the rest hardly mattered. In fact, his top 5 was the revival of ‘Top Gun’. And among the cries of people who announced their end too soon, Paramount came back from the ashes.
At the moment you already have two films among the ten highest grossing of the year: ‘Sonic 2’, which improved on the original with 385 million, and ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, which is on its way to being a sensation with -for now- 282 million, that will grow and much to stand up to ‘The Batman’ or ‘Doctor Strange in the multiverse of madness’. But they have not stopped there.
‘The Lost City’ made 181 million, ‘Scream’ 140 and even ‘Jackass forever’ is among the twenty highest grossing with 80 million. They are not incredible blockbusters that burst the box office, but yes are earning benefits for Paramount in its niche and proving that mid-budget film success is possible.
The world of cinema has changed, takings in general have dropped… And that has been good for Paramount, which has managed to find its audience. The best? that still is left for brand new between this year and the next ‘Mission Impossible: Deadly Sentence – Part 1’, ‘Dungeons & Dragons’, ‘Ninja Turtles’ (by Seth Rogen) and ‘Babylon’, by Damien Chazelle.
Maverick and Sonic have put everyone’s eyes back on Paramount, some trusting that the trend will change and the cinema based on sequels and events lower the piston to once again rely on both original films and franchises that the public does not feel as overexploited. We’ll see if is able to hold the pulse that has launched the majors or if they pick up the baton to try to create new experiences in the cinema. For now, Maverick is still flying alone.