Marc Weinstock is exiting Paramount as president of worldwide marketing and distribution and will be succeeded by former Warner Bros. marketing chief Josh Goldstine according to multiple media reports. The exec was behind the successful campaigns for “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Mission: Impossible” and had been with the studio since 2019.
A Paramount spokesperson declined to comment.
In addition to “Top Gun: Maverick,” Weinstock worked on the marketing campaigns for all three “Sonic the Hedgehog” films as well as the original horror film “Smile,” which became the highest grossing horror film of 2022 and, along with “Maverick” and “Sonic 2,” was one of six No. 1 films for Paramount that year as Weinstock was promoted to oversee the studio’s unified marketing and distribution team.
Weinstock was known for thinking outside the box on marketing. For “Smile,” he launched a viral campaign in which actors appeared behind the plate at Major League Baseball games sporting the film’s infamously creepy smile, leading viewers to share it on social media.
That campaign was one of several that Weinstock spearheaded to take advantage of the growing popularity of TikTok and other video-based social media platforms, with other films like the successful revivals of “Mean Girls” and “Scream” following a similar strategy.
For his work, Weinstock was included on the cross-industry 2025 Forbes Entrepreneurial CMO 50, highlighting impactful marketing heads across major global brands; and the Adweek 50 of 2025 spotlighting leaders in advertising, marketing, media and technology.
Before joining Paramount, Weinstock served as President of Annapurna Pictures, where he helped secure a distribution and marketing deal with MGM. He previously held senior marketing leadership roles at 20th Century Fox and Sony Pictures, overseeing campaigns for films including “Logan,” “Hidden Figures,” “The Revenant,” “The Martian,” “Deadpool,” and “Skyfall.”
Goldstine comes to Paramount after a stint as the marketing chief at Warner Bros. highlighted by the wild success of “Barbie,” which became the studio’s highest grossing film ever in good part to a marketing campaign that included memorable trailers and dozens of product partnerships. He also oversaw the marketing campaigns for films like “Dune” and “Godzilla vs. Kong,” which were among the first films in theaters after they reopened in 2021.
Goldstine was surprisingly ousted from Warner at the start of 2025 alongside international distribution president Andrew Cripps, who moved to Disney to oversee global distribution.
Prior to Warner, Goldstine worked at Universal from 2011 to 2018 and at Sony for 20 years prior. At Universal, he worked under then-CEO of NBCUniversal Jeff Shell, who is now president of Paramount Skydance and who stepped down from NBCU over claims of misconduct. Goldstine was also accused of unspecified misconduct and was fired from Universal in 2018, leading him to successfully sue the company and receive $20 million in arbitration.
Goldstine’s arrival and Weinstock’s departure continues the leadership shuffle as Skydance’s ownership of Paramount continues to set in, with projects announced like the James Mangold/Timothee Chalamet heist film “High Side” and an adaptation of the famed video game series “Call of Duty.” The studio may also continue Hollywood’s ongoing consolidation wave as it is reported to be preparing a bid to acquire the entirety of Warner Bros.
