Paramount announced Wednesday that it is moving its upcoming superhero family film “Secret Headquarters” from a theatrical release to an exclusive streaming debut on Paramount+ this August.
Starring Owen Wilson and Walker Scobell (“The Adam Project”), and produced by Paramount and Jerry Bruckheimer Films, “Secret Headquarters” follows a boy who discovers his father’s secret identity as a superhero when he encounters secret crimefighting headquarters in the basement of his house. When villains charge in to destroy it, the boy and his friends must team up to save the world.
“We have seen tremendous success with our high-quality kids and family content, and are excited to add this special superhero movie to our growing slate of Paramount+ original films,” said Tanya Giles, chief programming officer, Paramount Streaming. “’Secret Headquarters’ is the perfect action-packed summer film for the whole family, making it a perfect fit for Paramount+ and our mountain of entertainment geared toward the whole household.”
Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman directed from a screenplay they co-wrote with Christopher Yost and Josh Koenigsberg. Jesse Williams, Keith L. Williams, Momona Tamada, Abby James Witherspoon and Michael Peña also star. The film is produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Chad Oman, and executive-produced by Orlee-Rose Strauss and Scott Lumpkin.
The release strategy shift for “Secret Headquarters” comes after Paramount set a new Memorial Day weekend box office record with “Top Gun: Maverick,” which earned $160.5 million over four days. With $590 million grossed domestically from five films this year, Paramount’s box office total has already exceeded what it earned in all of 2019.
But the pull of “Secret Headquarters” means that the studio has only three films left on its 2022 theatrical slate: the animated film “Paws of Fury” in July, the Paramount Players horror film “Smile” in September and the limited Christmas Day release of Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon.” The studio will then head into a 2023 that will begin with “Babylon” expanding wide before releasing a slew of films from franchises like “Dungeons & Dragons,” “A Quiet Place,” “Transformers” and “Mission: Impossible.”