David Ellison’s $8 billion merger between Paramount and Skydance gave him control of some of Hollywood’s most recognizable film franchises. Now comes the hard part as he figures out what to do with them.
Ellison’s answer is to double down on four-quadrant family films, rebooting franchises to ensure broader appeal while adding properties with a proven audience. Less than a month after the deal closed, Paramount signed with Activision to produce a live-action film based on “Call of Duty,” with Taylor Sheridan and Peter Berg attached to write the script.
The speed with which Ellison is moving underscores his goal to resuscitate Paramount’s standing as a major player in Hollywood, something he’s trying to supercharge with his bid for Warner Bros. Discovery. He’s already talked about his ultimate goal of producing 20 films a year, and earlier this month moved up the timetable to get to 15 films by next year, which would bring it closer in line with the other legacy studios.
A lot of those films will be ones with broad appeal like “Call of Duty,” which is the top-selling video game series in the U.S. for the past 16 years with more than half a billion copies sold (it doesn’t hurt that Ellison plays the game too). Conversely, you’re likely to see less original fare.
“It’s very prescient of the Ellison regime to double down on high-level IP like ‘Call of Duty’ and genuine four-quadrant franchises,” a film producer told TheWrap. “It feels like a real strategic reset from the previous leadership, which was still operating as if they were running Paramount circa 1991, when mid-scale films like ‘Soapdish’ would supposedly anchor a slate. This new direction reflects today’s marketplace far more accurately.”
Ellison inherited a mixed bag of IP. “Mission: Impossible” has grossed more than $4 billion worldwide and “Transformers” has hit $5 billion, but the most recent installments in both franchises failed to meet expectations. The last “Star Trek” movie was released in 2016 despite numerous attempts at getting another film off the ground.
Paramount has also struggled to keep pace with the other legacy studios in the franchise game. It produces fewer films than the other studios and has focused on a small number of properties in recent years. Ellison hitting reset on some of its biggest franchises, like “Star Trek” or “Transformers,” and betting on “Call of Duty” could get him closer to creating another billion-dollar franchise like family-friendly “Sonic the Hedgehog.”
“We definitely want to be in the business of making four quadrant family films,” Dana Goldberg, co-chair of Paramount Pictures, said in August. “We love these movies. We all grew up on these movies, and we don’t feel like many people are making them, and that’s a space we are going to run towards.”
Here’s a breakdown of the state of Paramount’s franchises:
“Call of Duty”
Sheridan and Berg have closed deals to write the live-action feature film adaptation of “Call of Duty” at Paramount Pictures and Activision. Berg is also attached to direct.
Will the live-action movie be a World War II era period piece, a futuristic take based on the “Black Ops” era or a contemporary setting from the mega-popular “Modern Warfare?” There are a lot of options for this long-standing video game series.
“I don’t think it’s even that far along,” according to an insider. “Berg and Sheridan are still figuring out a creative take.”
“Mission: Impossible”
With the release of “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” this summer, Paramount saw a slight uptick in terms of global box office performance ($598.8 million, versus “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning’s” $571 million), but it was still far from what 2018’s “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” made ($791.1 million) and even further from 2022’s “Top Gun: Maverick” ($1.496 billion).
The movies are large, cumbersome international productions, full of complicated stunts (like the biplane chase that closed out “The Final Reckoning”) and technological hurdles (like the construction of a special underwater tank to shoot the submarine sequences in “Final Reckoning”). With Cruise signing a new, nonexclusive deal with Warner Bros. (his first film with the studio is out next fall) and flirting with other projects both inside and outside his blockbuster wheelhouse, Paramount could use this as an opportunity to seize control of the franchise.
With the movies in flux, Paramount could go back to the franchise’s roots as a television series and launch a new, splashy streaming series for Paramount+, according to a person familiar with the franchise. Over the years, the film franchise has set up a number of secondary characters that are rich enough to lead a television series, with Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Maggie Q, Paula Patton and Jeremy Renner all more than capable of anchoring a “Mission: Impossible” series. If Cruise is taking a break from the series, maybe he’d finally sign off on a series.
“Transformers” and “G.I. Joe”
On the “Transformers” side, people with knowledge of the Hasbro franchise say that there are four unproduced scripts that had been presented to Paramount prior to the merger, including one that had franchise mastermind Michael Bay attached to return as director.
One of the scripts is a sequel to 2023”s “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” directed by Steven Caple Jr., which grossed $441 million and featured an after-credits tease of a team-up with G.I. Joe, which was last seen in 2021’s failed “Snake Eyes.”
“Star Trek”
While “Star Trek” has enjoyed mixed streaming success on Paramount+ with shows like “Strange New Worlds,” it hasn’t been on the big screen since 2016’s “Star Trek Beyond,” and multiple attempts at a fourth installment of the Chris Pine-fronted reboot saga (and a separate film by Quentin Tarantino) started in 2009 have stalled out. “’Star Trek’ is the immediate priority as far as tentpole films are concerned,” one top talent agent told TheWrap.
John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein are writing, producing and attached to direct a wholly original “Star Trek” film, TheWrap previously reported. While plot details are being kept under wraps, the project is not connected to any previous or current television series, movie or prior movie development projects, representing a potential hard reset of the franchise.
Daley and Goldstein last worked on “Dungeons & Dragon: Honor Among Thieves,” a film that injected humor into what could’ve been a straight action-adventure flick, potentially teasing a new tone for their take on “Star Trek.”
“Scream”
David Arquette will reprise his role as deputy Dewey Riley in “Scream 7” from Spyglass and Paramount Pictures. Plot details about Dewey’s return, who died in the fifth film at the hands of Ghostface killer Amber Freeman, is currently being kept under wraps. Freeman was played by newly-minted Oscar winner Mikey Madison.
Arquette joins a cast which includes returning stars Matthew Lillard, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Mason Gooding, and new cast members Isabel May, Celeste O’Connor, Asa Germann, Mckenna Grace, Sam Rechner and Anna Camp. “Scream 3” alum Scott Foley also recently joined the cast. The seventh installment of the classic franchise will be released on Feb. 27, 2026.
“Scary Movie”
The Wayans brothers are reuniting for the first time in 18 years to write an all new, original script for “Scary Movie”. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are set to return to the franchise. Hall and Faris starred in the first four “Scary Movie” parody films together between 2000 and 2006.
Keenan Ivory Wayans wrote and directed the first two films, which Marlon and Shawn Wayans starred in and co-wrote. (The fifth movie in 2013 was an unrelated, standalone sequel to original series.) The sixth “Scary Movie” movie hits theaters on June 12, 2026.
“Sonic the Hedgehog”
The “Sonic the Hedgehog” film franchise, based on the SEGA video game series, surpassed $1 billion in total box office receipts worldwide earlier this year thanks to a strong showing from the third entry.
The film series already had a strong foundation. Released in February 2020 and April 2022, respectively, “Sonic the Hedgehog” and “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” earned a combined $725.2 million globally and generated $181 million in consumer spending from home entertainment rentals and purchases.
Last April, the spinoff series “Knuckles” debuted on Paramount+, earning over 11 million total global hours in its first 28 days streaming, making it the No. 1 kids and family series ever in terms of hours on the platform.
Paramount is already in development on a fourth installment of the Sega video game series, with plans to release the film in 2027.
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”
On the heels of producing Paramount and Sega’s “Sonic the Hedgehog” series, veteran producer Neal H. Moritz is in talks to produce a new hybrid live-action “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” movie for the studio, TheWrap previously reported. While plot details are being kept under wraps, the film will represent a strategic expansion of the franchise.
The animated “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem 2” with Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg and Point Grey producing, and Jeff Rowe directing is set for release on Sept. 17, 2027.
As evidence of Paramount’s new direction, a planned adaptation of “The Last Ronin,” which would’ve been a more mature and adult-oriented take on the series, has been put on the backburner, according to a person familiar with the franchise plans.
“Angry Birds”
Paramount Pictures has added a third “Angry Birds Movie” to its release slate, setting it for Jan. 29, 2027.
Paramount takes over as distributor from Sony Pictures, which released the first “Angry Birds Movie” from Rovio Animation in 2016, grossing $352 million worldwide. The film, based on the hit mobile game, yielded a 2019 sequel that didn’t fly nearly as high with $152.2 million, though insiders at Paramount say that the films have seen robust viewership on streaming over the past five years.
“Meet the Parents”
“Meet the Parents 4” is set to bring the gang back together with Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Teri Polo and Owen Wilson — along with “Wicked” star Ariana Grande .
“I Love You, Man” filmmaker John Hamburg, who co-wrote all three previous “Meet the Parents” films, is set to write and direct the sequel. Universal Pictures will release the film wide on Nov. 25, 2026. Paramount Pictures will co-produce and distribute the film internationally.
“PAW Patrol”
The upcoming third installment of the “PAW Patrol” film franchise will star Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson and popular comedian Fortune Feimster, with the two newcomers to join Mckenna Grace, who reprises her lead role as Skye. The film, produced by Spin Master Entertainment in association with Nickelodeon Movies and distributed by Paramount Pictures, will have a theatrical release on Aug. 14, 2026.
