George Clooney was recently asked by GQ magazine about the impending sale of Paramount Pictures to Skydance. The two companies agreed to a sale reportedly valued at $8 billion in early July. Clooney has a rich history with the studio. His 2017 directorial effort “Suburbicon” was released domestically by Paramount, while the studio was also behind some of his other titles, such as “Up in the Air,” for which he received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.
“Paramount is one of the great original studios,” Clooney said when the topic of Paramount’s sale came up. “But there are some things you just don’t have a say in. Because the business is being completely gobbled up. It’s like everything – it’s being gobbled up by big Walmarts and Amazons all over the world. Our version of a small-town mom-and-pop store is Paramount.”
As reported by diversity, Skydance and its partners will invest more than $8 billion to revive Paramount’s divisions. Skydance said the deal has an enterprise value of $28 billion, with Skydance itself valued at $4.75 billion.
The sale of Paramount to Skydance will mark the latest upheaval in Hollywood’s studio system. Clooney is right to cite Amazon, which now owns MGM Studios. Walmart, however, has not yet made a bid for a studio. In his interview with GQ magazine, Clooney said that changes at the studios have also weakened Hollywood’s power to create movie stars.
“They didn’t develop stars the way the studio system used to,” Clooney said of Hollywood. “We were kind of at the end of where you could work at a studio and make three or four movies, and there was some plan for it. And I don’t think that’s necessarily the case today. So it’s harder to sell someone something on the back of a star.”
“But it’s a great time to be a young actor,” Clooney added. “Because when I was a young actor, every Monday morning you would see on the back page of the LA Times the 64 shows that were being produced. And when you’re on those 64 shows, you’re trying to get in the top 20 so the show stays on the air. But that’s about it. And back then, the studios were making five movies a year. Now there are 600 shows, so there’s a lot more work for actors.”
Clooney’s next film is the crime thriller “Wolfs,” directed by Jon Watts. In the film, Clooney and Brad Pitt play rival fixers who are hired for the same job. “Wolfs” will have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival before streaming on Apple TV+ starting September 27. The film will be in theaters for a week starting September 20.
