The Paramount film studio has been at the center of the battle over the future of media giant Viacom (NASDAQ: VIA) (NASDAQ: VIAB). Sumner Redstone and his daughter, Shari Redstone, who control 80% of the company’s voting shares, want it to hold onto the film studio — lock, stock and barrel. But management at CBS (NYSE: CBS), which they also control and hope to merge with Viacom, may see the struggling film company as a barrier to a deal.
It’s a conundrum for all other shareholders because they don’t actually control what happens to the company. In addition, it’s a headache for CBS CEO Les Moonves who may end up running a company that has tied its future to a failing movie studio.
However, those are problems that go away with a few box office hits, and Paramount may have some of those in the pipeline. The studio just announced a number of upcoming film release dates, and there are some promising pictures (and some big questions) on its slate.
What does Paramount have coming up?
Most importantly the studio has set Mission: Impossible 6 for a July 2018 release date. That series may be as close to a sure thing as the company has, and while it’s not a billion-dollar franchise anymore, it’s still a near-guaranteed moneymaker.
In addition, Deadline reported that the company will release Alexander Payne’s Downsizing ahead of Christmas weekend on Dec. 22, 2017. That’s a bit of counter-programming: the studio is giving a quirky, niche filmmaker a chance to take a stab at a bigger movie, and releasing his movie during a very busy box office week. The film company also has an untitled horror film set for April 2017, and an unnamed “event film” set for November 2018.
This will not quell any fears
Aside from Mission: Impossible 6, everything else Paramount has planned is a shot in the dark at best. This highlights the fact that the company simply does not have the roster of franchises its rivals do.
That makes Viacom a huge risk for CBS, and it makes it even more curious that the Redstones won’t even consider selling a stake in the studio.
This is a film company where the cupboard is pretty bare. That does not mean it can’t produce hits, but putting up an Alexander Payne comedy against the new Star Wars film is not a strategy that is going to give anyone much confidence.
A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity
The world’s biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn’t miss a beat: There’s a small company that’s powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, just click here.
Daniel Kline has no position in any stocks mentioned.
{loadposition user99}