Similar to Disney’s Investor Day last year, ViacomCBS held its own streaming event today to tease the upcoming film and television slate for its upcoming Paramount+ (The Service Formally Known as CBS All Access).
We previously reported on Halo moving from Showtime to Paramount+ for Q1 2022, but now we know that the video game adaptation is just one small piece of a larger slate.
Several feature-length films are being developed as Paramount+ exclusives. The initial titles include the new Paranormal Activity film, a Pet Sematary origin story (Jeff Buhler will write the script), and The In Between, about a teenage girl who, “after surviving a car accident that took the life of her boyfriend, believes he’s attempting to reconnect with her from the afterworld.” That film hails from filmmaker Arie Posin and was written by Marc Klein. The goal is for Paramount, through Paramount Players, to deliver “three to four feature titles a year” to the streaming service.
Also in the works are movies based on Beavis and Butt-Head, Workaholics, and Reno 911!. The casts and creatives behind each series are expected to return.
During the event, Paramount Pictures disclosed that it will be experimenting with a “shorter exclusive exhibition window for theatrical releases.” Gone are the traditional 90 day exclusive theatrical window. Now, Paramount will look to a “30-day frame for most titles and a 45-day theatrical window for tentpole titles.” To help sell this concept (and bolster subscriber numbers), Mission: Impossible 7, A Quiet Place Part II, and Paw Patrol: The Movie will all be available on Paramount+ after the 45-day theatrical release window.
On the TV side, a followup to the 1969 film The Italian Job was announced. In the upcoming sequel series, “when the grandchildren of the legendary Charlie Croker inherit his old safety deposit box, the quest for the infamous Italian bullion is reignited.” The project has received a script-to-series order with Matt Wheeler attached to write and executive produce.
In addition, the streamer is planning series adaptations of Love Story, Fatal Attraction, Parallax View, and Flashdance. The Frasier revival was offically ordered with Kelsey Grammer returning as well as a Criminal Minds revival.
Concerning series that are not just revivals or remakes, Paramount+ is going all in with Taylor Sheridan. The streaming service is set to host not one, not two, but three original series from the acclaimed writer-director.
The first is Mayor of Kingstown, starring Jeremy Renner. The project was originally set up at Paramount Network. The series follows “the McLusky family – power brokers in Kingstown, Michigan where the business of incarceration is the only thriving industry. Tackling themes of systemic racism, corruption and inequality, the series provides a look at their attempt to bring order and justice to a town that has neither.” Sheridan co-created the series with Hugh Dillon.
The first series, set to debut later this year, is the prequel Y: 1883. It “follows the Dutton family as they embark on a journey west through the Great Plains toward the last bastion of untamed America. It is described as a stark retelling of Western expansion, and an intense study of one family fleeing poverty to seek a better future in America’s promised land — Montana.”
The other series will be a spinoff currently titled 6666. The following information was released alongside the announcement: “Founded when Comanches still ruled West Texas, no ranch in America is more steeped in the history of the West than the 6666. Still operating as it did two centuries before, and encompassing an entire county, the 6666 is where the rule of law and the laws of nature merge in a place where the most dangerous thing one does is the next thing. The 6666 is synonymous with the merciless endeavor to raise the finest horses and livestock in the world, and ultimately where world class cowboys are born and made.”
It’s certainly an impressive lineup, and, having just jumped on the Yellowstone bandwagon myself, I might be enticed to check out the upcoming prequel. I’m still waiting on my Mission: Impossible series that will be connected to the Tom Cruise films, Paramount. Have Ving Rhames’ Luther Stickell lead a new team of IMF operatives. It’s as simple as that!
CBS All Access will shapeshift into Paramount+ on March 4, 2021.
What do you think of the first wave of original content for Paramount+? Anything above look interesting enough for you to subscribe?
