Paramount Pictures is tapping former Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures marketing executive Josh Goldstine to lead its global marketing and distribution efforts as president, effective immediately.
“Over his career, Josh has led marketing for franchise cornerstones and breakout originals,” Paramount Pictures co-chairs Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein said in a memo to staff on Wednesday. “He brings a sharp strategic lens to positioning, creative advertising, media, publicity, partnerships, analytics, strategy & research, creative content, and now, theatrical distribution.”
As Warner Bros. president of worldwide marketing, Goldstine was responsible for the record-breaking campaign for “Barbie,” the studio’s highest-grossing film of all time with more than $1.4 billion globally. He also oversaw marketing for major tentpoles including “Dune,” “The Batman,” “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” and “Wonka,” among others. He was surprisingly ousted from Warner at the start of 2025 alongside international distribution president Andrew Cripps, who moved to Disney to oversee global distribution.
At Universal Pictures, he led the strategic vision and execution behind global franchises including “Fast & Furious,” “Jurassic World,” “Despicable Me,” “Pitch Perfect” and “Minions.” He also led campaigns for “Straight Outta Compton,” “Get Out,” “Split,” “The Secret Life of Pets” and “Fifty Shades of Grey.” 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.
Earlier in his career, Goldstine spent over two decades at Sony Pictures, where he served as president of creative advertising and led campaigns for Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man” trilogy, “The Social Network,” “Casino Royale,” “The Da Vinci Code,” “Jerry Maguire,” “Men in Black” and “Groundhog Day.”
Goldstine’s appointment follows the exit of Paramount’s Marc Weinstock, who was behind the successful campaigns for “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Mission: Impossible” and who had been with the studio since 2019.
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.
Goldstine marks the latest in a string of executive hires by Paramount’s new leadership. Other recent hires include Josh Silverman to lead the company’s global products & experiences business, Jay Askinasi as chief revenue officer, Dane Glasglow as chief product officer and Makan Delrahim as chief legal officer.
