Paramount Was Hollywood’s ‘Mountain.’ Now It’s a Molehill.

[TMC]

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/17/b...-pictures.html

After decades of nearly slapstick mismanagement — spinning off TV and missing the internet — the studio behind “The Godfather” is fighting for its life.

[Hawkee]

When it has come down to it Paramount Pictures has always been number one when it comes to producing and creating top movies and with the name Paramount Pictures in a movie you knew that a movie will be a hit. Take for instance in the 60's and 70's Paramount Pictures was movie king and when the movie The Godfather came out in the 70's Paramount Pictures became successful and couldn't be more prouder when The Godfather became a box-office smash and that really brought a whole new side to Paramount Pictures. In the 80's we saw Paramount Pictures become successful with movie hits such as Terms Of Endearment in 1983 Crocodile Dundee in 1986 and Some Kind Of Wonderful Footloose and Flashdance and Driving Miss Daisy from 1989 and you knew that Paramount would still have that magic touch in the 80's. And as the 90's began Paramount started changing it's image by becoming king of action movies by having Tom Cruise as their main star with the movies Days Of Thunder in 1990 and The Firm and with Tom Cruise and his wife at the time Nicole Kidman the biggest stars in Hollywood Paramount Pictures proved that with top actors in Hollywood they would still be huge. But I think the two things that has caused Paramount Pictures to go downhill was when they became to show a young adult image by having comedy/dramas geared to teens starting with the movie Reality Bites in 1994 and at the time it came out Reality Bites became a blockbuster hit in theaters and when the movie Clueless debuted in 1995 it was also a success and inspired the sitcom of the same name. The second thing Paramount Pictures did that was the worst thing that they did was partner with MTV to create MTV Films and make movies like My Super Sweet 16 The Movie The American Mall and many other movies and about the only movie that was a success was Napoleon Dynamite for Paramount Pictures partnering with MTV. But what I think will happen to Paramount Pictures is while the movie division of the studio will hit rock bottom Paramount Pictures will focus on their TV show division and another movie studio will buy Paramount Pictures and save it from being bankrupt. After all look what happened to Orion Pictures when they went broke in the 2000's? Orion Pictures got revived again and saved from being bankrupt
Bestie

[80sTrivia]

How the mighty have fallen. Of course, the only movies that are successful these days are those based on comic books. What a shame...

[RetroGuy2000]

The article paints Sumner Redstone in a pretty bad light, stating his company, Viacom, destroyed Paramount through a series of bad deals and horrible, goofy decisions. It's hard to argue with the NYT's conclusions.

[JamesG]

Originally Posted by LaBestia

But I think the two things that has caused Paramount Pictures to go downhill was when they became to show a young adult image by having comedy/dramas geared to teens starting with the movie Reality Bites in 1994 and at the time it came out Reality Bites became a blockbuster hit in theaters and when the movie Clueless debuted in 1995 it was also a success and inspired the sitcom of the same name.

I don't understand, you say this caused them to go downhill yet mention the movies became blockbuster hits?

Originally Posted by LaBestia

The second thing Paramount Pictures did that was the worst thing that they did was partner with MTV to create MTV Films and make movies like My Super Sweet 16 The Movie The American Mall and many other movies and about the only movie that was a success was Napoleon Dynamite for Paramount Pictures partnering with MTV.

Not true. More MTV Movies distributed by Paramount turned a profit:

Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996)
Varsity Blues (1999)
The Original Kings of Comedy (2000)
Save the Last Dance (2001)
Crossroads (2002)
Jackass: The Movie (2002)
Coach Carter (2005)
Hustle & Flow (2005)
Jackass Number Two (2006)
Blades of Glory (2007)
Jackass 3D (2010)
Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (2011)
Katy Perry: Part of Me (2012)
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (2013)

[MrCleveland]

Paramount is in a slump because of Viacom!

Viacom doesn't want anyone to watch their shows for free...they must pay to do so...paying for something is okay because it makes profit...but paying an arm and leg for something (like Viacom wants) hurts the viewer...and makes the conglomerate the winner!