Paramount+ has revealed its goals for the future, which include premiering a new movie every week in 2022.
ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish talked about the company's plans during its first-quarter earnings conference call, as covered by The Hollywood Reporter. “Turning to movies... we are poised to dramatically enhance the scale of our offering,” Bakish said. He went on to reveal the company's planned "Mountain of Movies" marking campaign, highlighting "the thousands of new movies we are adding to Paramount+, including blockbuster hits and exclusive originals.”
Formerly CBS All Access, the streamer was rebranded Paramount+ in early March 2021. Its exclusives include The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, a 3D-animated SpongeBob Squarepants film that debuted as a premium on-demand title after its planned theatrical release was impacted by the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The Mark Wahlberg-led sci-fi film Infinite will similarly skip theaters and head directly to Paramount+ after being delayed multiple times by the current health crisis.
[Infinite should] create a lot of noise -- I have seen the film, it’s a fun film," Bakish said. "People love Mark Wahlberg... All of this is a preview to a substantial ramping up of original movies next year, when we expect to begin averaging an original movie a week in 2022."
“The original movie per week will be an exciting movie per week," Bakish claimed. “It will be a range of different kinds of movies," including those made for Paramount+ by Paramount Players and "other studio operations we have, including Nickelodeon."
Along with original movies, Bakish said the company intends to add an extra thousand titles to Paramount+'s film library in June, "with additional titles following through July, bringing the total to over 2,500.” He later added, "Hits like The Avengers and Skyfall will be available on the service soon, as well as a bunch of great Paramount films like Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Rocketman, Sonic the Hedgehog and more.”
Thanks to Paramount's newly-set agreement with theatrical exhibitors, major upcoming film releases like A Quiet Place Part II will become available to stream on Paramount+ 45 days after their debut in theaters. Bakish listed off some of the other movies that are slated to hit the service by the end of 2021, including the animated Paw Patrol feature film and the latest installment in the Paranormal Activity franchise.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter