When it comes to Paramount Pictures’ pending takeover of Warner Bros., the shouts from those with pitchforks — including exhibitors, filmmakers and lawmakers — are loud: The monopoly of it all, the zany promise of some 30 movies annually, the anxiety that the new merger becomes Disney-Fox, the mass elimination of jobs and so on.

Many forget that the debt-ridden Warner Bros. Discovery was in need of a hero to fly in and save the day, much like Tom Cruise’s Maverick from Paramount Skydance’s all-time top-grossing $1.5 billion movie Top Gun: Maverick. WBD was bound to be bought. Enter David Ellison.

In February, he snatched Paramount from the jaws of Netflix with a $31-per-share all-cash bid, amid the streamer’s questionable promises for theatrical. Given Ellison’s financial weight from his father, Larry Ellison, and Middle East funds, it could be said that Warners was always his to lose.

Many will argue that the Ellisons’ union of Paramount-Warner Bros. is another nail in the coffin of a shrinking motion picture industry. But there’s a reasonable case to be made that the Ellisons are here to evolve the combo as a fierce competitor against giants Netflix, Amazon and Apple. And Paramount-Warners will be a mighty competitor, touching every aspect of entertainment, news, tech and social media, with extended brands such as CNN, CBS and TikTok (Oracle has a 15% stake in the American arm venture). With an expected market cap of $170 billion, Paramount-Warners will easily rival Disney. The marriage of Paramount+ and HBO Max will also yield a subscriber count of 172 million, enough to push its way against the holy trinity of Netflix (325 million), Amazon’s Prime Video (200 million) and Disney+ (195 million).

For those concerned about theatrical, a new consolidated studio has a vested interest in putting films into theaters. As a rival studio business affairs executive puts it, “They’ll have $79 billion in debt, and the only way they’ll be able to get out of that is not by putting movies simply on Paramount+, but by releasing them theatrically.”

Sure enough, last month, Ellison made a surprise appearance at CinemaCon to announce his commitment to a 45-day theatrical window, starting immediately, and 90 days to SVOD. He explained he wanted to look exhibitors “directly in the eye” and promise at least 30 films a year, if and when the deal closes. “You can count on our complete commitment,” he said. “And we’ll show you we mean it.”

Ellison loyalists say that if Netflix can pull off 50 feature productions a year, why can’t the new Paramount? However, some maintain that this takeover situation is a sign of a bigger issue. Also speaking at CinemaCon, The Odyssey producer Emma Thomas said that the merger was “disruption for disruption’s sake,” saying that “there’s so many things wrong with the corporate world at the moment, in terms of the decisions that are being made that benefit a small number of people and nobody else.”

But it’s worth pointing out that Ellison isn’t like the other antiquated cable TV or telecom conquistadors in the biz. He’s a boots-on-the-ground producer, known for propelling Top Gun: Maverick — from his early pitches to late filmmaker Tony Scott, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Cruise, to rescuing the movie with extended reshoots involving Cruise and Jennifer Connelly’s characters.

Reportedly, Paramount brass initially told Ellison that Top Gun 2 would be lost on the under-35 set and was a ridiculous, pricey gamble. Ellison reportedly retorted that he would finance the entire tentpole.

In an entertainment industry where the culture is so often calculated and quite cynical, David is a fan first. The dude loves movies.

Shawn Levy

When the 2013 Brad Pitt zombie movie World War Z was in trouble, it was Ellison who was key in financially saving the film, with the pic’s budget booming from $125 million to near $270 million. Josh Greenstein, now Paramount Pictures co-chair and then the marketing boss, cut a teaser that enabled Ellison to see what the Marc Forster-directed movie could be. The pic ultimately grossed $540 million worldwide.

“From day one, David was fully committed to making the best movie possible,” says Greenstein, “I can’t tell you how many people I’ve worked with in this town who shy away from that kind of self-imposed pressure. David immediately saw the vision, embraced it and was responsible for pushing the film forward.”

“He is abundantly fair. From the moment I met him, he hasn’t just said it — he has proven through his actions that the best idea always wins,” says Paramount Pictures co-chair Dana Goldberg, who has known Ellison for 16 years. “He doesn’t care if it’s his idea, our idea, the director’s idea or the third AD’s idea. At the end of the day, what David cares about the most is the movie, and whatever serves it best wins.” 

Says director Shawn Levy, who made the 2022 Netflix movie The Adam Project with Ellison: “In an entertainment industry where the culture is so often calculated and quite cynical, David is a fan first. The dude loves movies.”