On the heels of the revelation that ViacomCBS’s streaming platforms have reached just 36 million subscribers, streaming service Paramount+ has announced it will stream at least one original movie each week, including the long-delayed sci-fi movie from Mark Wahlberg and Chiwetel Ejiofor. endless†
In March, streaming service CBS All Access was rebranded as Paramount+ and received a massive injection of new content straight out of the merger between parent company CBS and Viacom. ViacomCBS, the resulting new conglomerate, owns a host of Hollywood brands and studios, including CBS, Showtime, MTV, BET, Comedy Central, Paramount Pictures, and others. The desire to showcase all that content under the roof of one streaming platform was reportedly a major driver behind the merger.
Considering that CBS All Access was one of Hollywood’s first attempts at using a streaming service to compete with previous platforms from tech companies like Netflix and Amazon, the service marked a major shift. Since then, we’ve wondered if the rebranding has supported the streaming service, which before the merger was best known for its different… Star Trek series restart.
Yesterday marked ViacomCBS’s first quarterly earnings call since the streaming network’s relaunch and rebrand. CEO Bob Bakish confirmed that Paramount+ and the other streaming services conglomerates had reached 35.9 subscribers at the end of March — 6 million more than in the end of 2020 quarter.
Streaming services like Paramount+ are now fiercely competing for viewership and subscription fees; a TV-over-IP landscape previously primarily owned by Netflix and premium cable TV channels such as HBO, Showtime, and Starz has now expanded to include service from nearly any company that owns a significant amount of film or television intellectual property . Nevertheless, most of the recent launches have been successful as viewers sought entertainment during a difficult year.
One of Paramount+’s biggest successes to date was the premiere of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, which was a March launch title for Paramount+. (The film had previously shown on Netflix and video-on-demand services, but not in theaters.) In an effort to build on that win and leverage Paramount Pictures’ movie catalog to attract more subscribers , Paramount+ executives have committed to debuting at least one original movie on the streaming service every week by 2022.
Decisions decisions
However, not all of these films will be released simultaneously with theatrical screenings. The company had previously announced a plan to debut some movies on Paramount+ 45 days after their traditional theater premieres, and that weekly commitment includes those delayed premieres.
But that’s not the case for every movie that will be released on Paramount+. Especially the sci-fi action movie endless was originally slated for a theatrical release last year, but was delayed until later in 2021. But now it’s not being released in theaters at all. rather, endless will debut on Paramount+ in June.
The movie stars Mark Wahlberg (the deceased† Boogie nights) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 years slave† Peace) and is directed by Antoine Fuqua (The beautiful seven† the equalizer† Based on the novel by D. Eric Maikranz The Reincarnation PapersThe film follows the story of a schizophrenic man who discovers that his hallucinations are memories from someone else’s life and that he has access to skills those people had.
Other upcoming Paramount movies likely to hit the streaming service include: Sonic the hedgehog 2† Paranormal Activity 7James Bond movie No time to dieand a spin-off of the runaway horror success A quiet place†