According to Deadline, Skydance Media and its backers have reached a deal to invest an astounding $8 billion dollars in a takeover of Paramount Global–a deal said to put “gold-plated media assets including CBS, Nickelodeon and Paramount Pictures in new hands for the first time since the 1980s.”
After the company received approval this past Sunday from Paramount’s board of directors, the full committee agreed on a plan to first acquire National Amusements Inc.–the movie theater holding company owned by Shari Redstone, a woman whose family controls nearly 80% of Paramount’s voting shares, including, but by no means limited to, CBS, Comedy Central, BET, Showtime, Nickelodeon and MTV–before unfolding a full merger with Skydance next year.
Skydance CEO David Ellison will now be “chairman and CEO” of the new Paramount-Skydance hybrid (ParaDance? Dancin’ Mount?), while former NBCUniversal chief, Jeff Shell, will serve as president. Variety further reports that, as is seemingly inevitable in any news about a multi-billion dollar deal, Skydance will begin seeking a return on its money with an eye-watering $2 billion in cuts already identified by Ellison and Shell.
Now as readers of this website, I know the question you’re all asking: What does this mean for the future of Star Trek, exactly? Under the previous regime, the beloved franchise has seen a resurgence in recent years–what with Picard, Strange New Worlds, Prodigy, Lower Decks and Discovery–but will Ellison and company share the same enthusiasm for the property? This of course, remains, to be seen, but the studio did co-produce the last two theatrical features, so perhaps Terry Matalas will finally get another meeting about his dream Star Trek series, Legacy, after he’s done with all those other projects. The company did produce seven seasons of Grace & Frankie, after all…
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