Despite the fact that Paramount+ has 43 million subscribers and a hefty roster of content (which is mostly made up of South Park specials), it still isn’t quite as popular as fellow streamers Netflix and Hulu. Paramount knows this, which is why they have been channeling much energy into their theatrical releases, which have been dominating the box office this year.
In a second-quarter earnings call this week, president and CEO Bob Bakish says that the decision to halt releases during 2020 and 2021 made their theatrical releases much more successful. “Nowhere is our popularity more evident than at the box office,” Bakish explained. “Look no further than Top Gun: Maverick, which is already the biggest film [of] 2022 and our fifth No. 1 title this year. In fact, Top Gun: Maverick just cleared $1.3 billion at the global box office and became one of the top 10 domestic movies of all time.” The other No. 1 releases this year include Jackass Forever, Scream, The Lost City, and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (surprisingly).
Bakish shared that the company was forced to make hard release decisions early on in the pandemic, as did Warner Bros and other studios who were sitting on expensive productions throughout 2020.
“In the early stages of the pandemic, we were very selective with our releases, holding certain films until market conditions improved,” Bakish added. “While we couldn’t release Top Gun: Maverick and The Lost City earlier, we held off because we knew these phenomenal stories would bring audiences back to theaters. That proved to be the right call.” It was indeed the right call, in terms of making money! The movie became one of the highest-grossing movies of all time.
While delaying proved to be the right call for certain movies, there are other studio releases that were given the short end of the stick when released both online and in theaters, like Black Widow. Luckily, Tom Cruise seems very happy with the Top Gun reception, so maybe movies really are back!