For more than a century, the history of cinema has been full of ups and downs. Although many studios are currently enjoying the benefits of success, the truth is that achieving this stability has not been easy. Many managers of the largest Hollywood studios have bet everything to succeed in the entertainment industry, and in the attempt they have changed the way of making films. Below, we present the history of Paramount Pictures, a studio responsible for great classics in the industry and important hits in the 21st century.
The origin of success
Paramount Pictures is the fifth oldest film studio in the world. It emerged in the early 1910s, just after Gaumont Film Company, Pathé, Nordisk Film and Universal Pictures. It started as a small film distributor owned by William Wadsworth Hodkinson, but he soon found someone who would take over the entire empire: Adolph Zukor, who is considered the first great Hollywood businessman. He was the owner of a production company called Famous Players that, like many of the time, looked for its opportunity to reach the top in each project.
In 1916, said production company joined with The Jesse L. Lasky Company, another company dedicated to film making that had a similar profile. Later, both joined the aforementioned Paramount, whose only relationship with them, until that moment, was to distribute their feature films. Since the three companies were merged, they decided to take Paramount Publix as the formal name for the rest of their operations.
Paramount’s strategy was clear: stay with the most recognized stars of the time. Shortly after its official founding, the studio already had important celebrities such as Douglas Fairbanks, Clara Bow, Mary Pickford and Rudolph Valentino in its ranks. Paramount was one of the first studios to offer its actors the opportunity to produce their stories, as was the case with Pickford, who ended up resigning from the studio in 1919. Ironically, she founded United Artist shortly afterwards, all with the support of director DW Griffith, Douglas Fairbanks and Charles Chaplin himself.
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Consolidating the brand
During the 1920s there were not many projects that catapulted the studio, but they did boost the careers of some actors. Actress Gloria Swanson became one of the most recognized stars of silent cinema, who decades later starred in what would be one of the studio’s greatest critical and commercial successes: The twilight of a lifeby Billy Wilder. Ironically, the plot of said project focused on oblivion and the difficult times that the actors faced during the transition from silent films to the sound era. At the same time, Paramount became (thanks to Zukor’s experience with movie theaters) the studio that would give rise to large exhibition halls.
Each year, Paramount Publix produced around 50 films with a duration of approximately one hour. His films ranged from musical comedies to animations such as Popeye the Sailor Man. Something that stood out to the studio for many years was its peculiar slogan, which read: “If it’s a Paramount movie, it’s the best show in town.” It was 1926 the year the Oscars came to the studio: wings It became the first winner of the Best Picture statuette.
By the early 1930s, despite the Great Depression and some other problems, the list of exclusive actors already had Gary Cooper, Bing Crosby, Carole Lombard and Claudette Colbert, among others. But the first crisis arrived shortly after and Paramount Publix declared bankruptcy during 1933. Fortunately, productions by its biggest stars had generated a series of important profits, and this prevented debts from destroying the studio. Everyone got out of the situation and faced a new decade that would bring more satisfaction to their leaders.
The honeys of success
In 1945, director Leo McCarey released Going My Way, a musical comedy starring Bing Crosby and Barry Fitzgerald, another of the key films for the studio’s expansion. Not only did it become a box office success, but it was also the Paramount film that had won the most Oscars: 7, including Best Picture, Director, Actor and Screenplay. The next year, Days without a traceby Billy Wilder, also won the highest award at the Oscars.
The slogan had become a reality: Paramount movies were the best show in town. But not everything was smooth sailing, the Supreme Court of the United States of America determined that Paramount and the other major studios (Warner Bros., Universal, 20th Century Fox, Metro-Goldwyn Mayer and United Artists) monopolized the production, distribution and exhibition of films. That marked the end of the 40s and the beginning of the 50s.
Paramount Pictures had to sell some of the movie theaters it still had since its founding. In this way, the “monopoly” ceased to be a monopoly. Things got a little better with the arrival of classics like Vertigoby Alfred Hitchcock, or Sabrinaby Billy Wilder. In 1956, and with a budget of $13 million dollars (high for the time), acclaimed director Cecil B. DeMille released The ten Commandments, a film that to this day is a classic of Holy Week. Unfortunately, it was the last work of the director, to whom tribute is still paid during tours inside the studio.
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Technological advancement also represented a challenge for Paramount. In the 60s, television and its rise caused a great challenge for all film studios. VistaVision, a large widescreen format, was launched to compete with television, and was evidently used by Paramount. Productions like Star Trek either Mission Impossible They were the company’s first great successes for television, an area in which it also stood out. Later in that decade, two failures came, such as The legend of the city, with Clint Eastwood as one of its protagonists. It soon became evident that the public had new consumer habits and was no longer satisfied with the previous projects.
The last decades
Robert Evans came in as the company’s new leader. Up until that point, his only major role in the industry was having acted many years ago. He was betting on an even darker era, but he kept quiet with the 60s and 70s that saw important successes and stories whose impact prevails to this day. Among them are Rosemary’s baby and the first two movies The Godfather. Evans’ position at Paramount lasted until the mid-1970s, but the following years were equally successful. The study focused, thanks to competitive successes such as Star Wars and Sharkin the creation of blockbusters for the entire family.
This is how films like Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Flashdance and top gun, which earned Paramount millions of dollars, attracted the best actors and directors of the time, and even led to the emergence of some franchises. While continuing to produce great stories capable of winning awards, the studio entered the world of blockbusters with great success.
Paramount Pictures was acquired by Viacom in 1994, and the years to come were relatively strong. Several producers, directors and even actors (such as Tom Cruise) signed exclusive contracts to develop stories with the studio. The 2000s brought him great successes, among them, Hombre de Hierro. When the film starring Robert Downey Jr. hit theaters, Paramount owned the rights to several Marvel characters, including Iron Man, Thor and Captain America. However, Disney bought, for a larger sum, the rights to them and took over what we now know as the MCU. What would Paramount’s story be if it had stayed with superheroes?
Currently, Paramount Pictures has its own streaming platform. streaming, Paramount Plus. Through it he has told all kinds of stories and expanded his catalog with series and other important productions. It is part of the conglomerate known as Paramount Global, and has divisions for music, home entertainment, animation and television. Little by little, various projects have stood up for their studio and have positioned it as one that should be kept in the spotlight.
What are the 5 highest-grossing movies from Paramount Pictures?
- Titanic (1997) – Gross receipts: $2,222 million (in co-production with 20th Century Fox).
- The Avengers (2012) – Collection: $1,515 million (in co-distribution with Disney).
- Top Gun: Maverick (2022) – Collection: $1,495 million.
- iron Man 3 (2013) – Collection: $1,214 million.
- Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) – Collection: $1,123 million.
His notable films
- At (Dir. William A. Wellman, 1927)
- Cleopatra (Dir. Cecil B. DeMille)
- The twilight of a life (Dir. Billy Wilder, 1950)
- Vertigo (Dir. Alfred Hitchcock, (1952)
- The ten Commandments (Dir. Cecil B. DeMille, 1956)
- luxury doll / Breakfast at Tiffany’s (Dir. Blake Edwards, 1961)
- Psychosis (Dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
- Vaseline (Dir. Randall Kleiser, 1978)
- Friday the 13thfranchise (1980 – Present)
- Indiana Jones (first four films, Dir. Steven Spielberg, 1981-2008)
- top gunfranchise (Dirs. Tony Scott, Joseph Kosinski, 1986-2022)
- Forrest Gump (Dir. Robert Zemeckis, 1994)
- Mission Impossiblefranchise (1996 – Present)
- Saving Private Ryan (Dir. Steven Spielberg, 1998)
- The Truman Show: Story of a Life (Dir. Peter Weir, 1998)
- Mean girls (Dir. Mark Waters, 2004)
- War of the Worlds (Dir. Steven Spielberg, 2004)
- Transformersfranchise (2007 – Present)
- Paranormal activityfranchise (2007 – Present)
- Star Trekfranchise (2009 – 2016)
- The wolf of Wall Street (Dir. Martin Scorsese, 2013)
- Ninja Turtlesfranchise (2014 – Present)
- The Moon Killers (co-production with Apple Studios, Dir. Martin Scorsese, 2023)
Paramount Pictures’ Most Anticipated Movies
- Mean girls (January 11, 2024).
- Bob Marley: The legend (*February 14, 2024).
- A Quiet Place: Day One (June 27, 2024).
- Transformers One (*September 13, 2024).
- smile 2 (*October 18, 2024).
- Gladiator 2 (*November 22, 2024).
- Sonic 3: The Movie (*December 20, 2024).
- Mission: Impossible 8 (*May 23, 2025).
*NOTE: The indicated date corresponds to its premiere in the United States.
Juan Jose Cruz I am one of those who always defended Robert Pattinson as Batman and can see the same movie in the cinema up to 7 times. My guilty taste? Low-budget horror films.