The leadership shuffle at Paramount ahead of its merger at Skydance continues as Mike Ireland is departing after nearly five years at the studio, including four as head of its motion picture group.
Insiders at Paramount say Ireland will stay at the studio in a consulting role during the transition and is considering a producing deal.
His exit comes a day after Skydance announced its new leadership team, with its features and sports president Don Granger serving as head of the motion picture group and reporting to new studio co-chairs Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein. Goldberg is also serving as chair of Paramount Television and Greenstein as vice chair of platforms.
Ireland joined Paramount in November 2020 and was named co-president of production alongside Daria Cercek two months later. The pair were promoted to film division chiefs in the fall of 2021.
Ireland and Cercek would go on to lead Paramount in 2022 to its best year at the box office since 2014, with nearly $1.3 billion in domestic grosses. That bonanza was led by the studio’s second-highest grossing film of all time, “Top Gun: Maverick,” a Skydance co-production on which Don Granger served as executive producer.
Along with “Maverick,” which grossed $1.45 billion worldwide, Ireland oversaw the growth of the “Sonic the Hedgehog” and “A Quiet Place” film series, the successful revival of Wes Craven’s “Scream,” and the launch of the new horror franchise “Smile.” Ireland also established several filmmaker partnerships including Oscar winner Damien Chazelle, who signed a first look deal with Paramount.
