President of Paramount Pictures’ Motion Picture Group (MPG) Emma Watts has resigned from her position in the wake of the departure of CEO Jim Gianopulos and other executives.
Emma Watts was instrumental in rebuilding Paramount, following the downfall of the studio in 2017. The tasks she did were second only to Mr. Gianopulos, and she was touted as the replacement of the CEO once he resigns. In 2020, she was appointed as the overseer of Transformers & G.I. Joe Live Action Movie Franchises.
Jump to the present day. ViacomCBS Chairman Shari Redstone surprised the entire company by naming Brian Robbins as the new CEO of Paramount Pictures. After what is reportedly a heated discussion, Emma Watts stepped down from her position which was quickly filled not by one, but two heads for the Motion Picture Group. Mike Ireland & Daria Cercek will now lead MPG as co-presidents.
At the time of her departure, Emma Watts was catering to Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts, Sonic The Hedgehog 2, Dungeons & Dragons among others.
Mike Ireland & Daria Cercek is to look after the G.I. Joe Live Action Movie Franchise as successors of Emma Watts.
The new CEO Brian Robbins stated the following:
“Paramount also benefited greatly from the deep talents of Emma Watts who, among so many accomplishments, helped build a terrific team at the studio, facilitated overall deals with top-tier talent including John Krasinski and Ryan Reynolds, and shepherded a number of exciting upcoming projects including the latest film in the Star Trek franchise, the newest Transformers film, and a star-studded Dungeons & Dragons adaptation. We wish her nothing but success in her future.”
TFW2005 attended the Goldman Sachs 30th Annual Communacopia Conference to learn more about Paramount’s future plans. Bob Bakish, the President and CEO of ViacomCBS, stated that in the future Paramount will send low-budget movies directly to streaming (Paramount+ service) while kids/family-friendly movies will see ‘day and day release’ (theatrical and streaming at the same time). Big budget movies will see theatrical release followed by a short window (45 days as opposed to 90 days) to their home release. However, Mr. Bakish stated that such plans may change in the future.
News Post: Paramount Shake-Up: Emma Watts Resigns, New Heads For G.I. Joe Movies
Well this can't be good.
When Daria Cercek & Michael Ireland were initially brought on board in January, Emma Watts offered only glowing praise for the duo (who were both former colleagues of hers at Fox):
"I'm thrilled to be working again with both Daria and Mike. The key to success is having the right team, and having watched Daria and Mike grow over the years, I am quite confident their combined creativity, enthusiasm and extensive talent relationships will be a huge windfall for Paramount. They believe passionately in people and projects which makes for better films.”*
I wonder if she still feels the same way about them now?
At any rate, it was well past time for Paramount to "turn the page", and I'm rather excited to see what Cercek can accomplish in her new role. Although, admittedly, the two comedies she "championed" at Fox** were less than spectacular. ("The Heat" was just so-so, while "The Other Woman" was pretty awful.) Plus, to be perfectly honest, the last three "X-Men" films sorta sucked, too.
PS "Dungeons & Dragons" really does have a strong cast, actually (Regé-Jean Page, Sophia Lillis, Hugh Grant, etc). Though, nevertheless, it remains quite difficult to imagine that movie ever being anything other than completely dreadful.
* https://variety.com/2021/film/news/p...ts-1234880718/
** https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/mo...on-1235020307/
Doesn’t matter who is in charge in Hollywood. They’re never going to make a good Joe film. Not because they can’t. Because they won’t. Everything needed to make a great Joe film has been done successfully by Hollywood in the past and in recent years on the big and small screen. Over and over. Rat Patrol, Ice Station Zebra, Where Eagles Dare, Mission Impossible the series, The Man from UNCLE, Bond, The A-team, MI films, Bourne, The Expendables, the new Man from UNCLE, John Wick, Atomic Blonde, it goes on and on. They won’t make a great Joe film because they think the audience is beneath them. Either “stupid kids” or “old losers”. A town full of post modern moral relativist hipsters. Stop giving money to people who hate you.
Give this to the MCU creators/planning team and they would make GI Joe watchable again.
They tried with Snake Eyes, but they rushed the story and made an ultimate badass ninja into someone who is not good at Ninjaing and a complete traitor at that. It went against the story in the first place where he and Tommy served together. Now they're just thugs together?! It had good points to it that could lead to something greater and I thought it was gonna blow Shang Chi away (based on the previews, Shang Chi didn't look all that great and didn't give the movie itself justice. The figures were even meh). It just didn't deliver. Less than 1 month in theaters is a really bad sign. Especially since they pushed the release date just to get it in theaters and not streaming.
If they continue with GI Joe, they have a lot to work on.
Lionsgate would be a better hoice due the fact they was pretty succesfull with the Hunger Games/John Wicky films.
Of course someone could always crack it, but I just don't think G.I. Joe is suited for live action theatrical films. One of the strengths of the property is the ensemble of interesting characters, which IMO lends itself better to episodic storytelling. You just can't do a two-hour film with 20-30 major characters unless you're Marvel and have spent 10 years and nearly two dozen films setting it up, and let's face it, JOE ain't getting that level of commitment. I'd be happy with a really great PG-13 level animated series that could appeal to older fans AND sell toys to kids.
They keep saying how the latest shake up will make an all new all different Paramount, and yet the films they release feel like they are making the same old mistakes of the past.
Keep reading: Paramount Shake-Up: Emma Watts Resigns, New Heads For G.I. Joe Movies - Page 2
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