Paramount is counting on already completed films to keep its theatrical release slate stocked as the US writers and actors strikes continue, though the company does see “some marketing challenges” as a result of the stoppages.
That was the message from Paramount Global president and CEO Bob Bakish as he commented on the company’s second quarter financial results, which were impacted by a drop in theatrical revenues.
“From a content perspective we’re in pretty good shape,” said Bakish on a call with analysts, noting that completed films set for release during the remainder of 2023 include Killers Of The Flower Moon, Bob Marley and A Quiet Place: Day One.
He added, however, that “it all comes down to duration. And I want to reiterate that we’re hopeful that we can solve this as an industry sooner rather than later, because we’d all like to get back in the content production business. But in the near term we’re working to mitigate the impact to our consumers and other constituents.”
Bakish said the company is “working to assess” the marketing challenges involved.
In its second quarter results, Paramount Global reported revenues of $7.6bn, compared to $7.8bn for the second quarter of 2022. The media giant showed an operating loss of $250m, compared to income of $819m last year.
In its direct-to-consumer division the company said subscriptions to the Paramount+ streaming service reached 61m, up by 700,000 over the quarter. The bump helped subscription revenue increase 47% to $1.2bn.
In Paramount’s filmed entertainment division revenues were down 39% to $831m mostly because the previous year’s second quarter had seen the theatrical release of $1.5bn hit Top Gun: Maverick. This year’s second quarter included the release of Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts, which has so far grossed around $434m.
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