Paramount On The Move: Signs Walter Hamada, Stock Up With Warren Buffett

Paramount has been making some good moves as of late.

Paramount has been making some good moves as of late.

Paramount On The Move: Signs Walter Hamada, Stock Up With Warren Buffett

Paramount Pictures continues its rise as the company has signed the former head of DC films, Walter Hamada, and its stock price sees a jump thanks to the investment of Warren Buffet.

Not to mention Paramount also has the #1 movie of the year with Top Gun: Maverick which has made nearly a billion-and-a-half dollars at the box office, and its streaming service seems to be doing pretty decent with some good quality shows.

paramount horror smile
‘Smile’

Walter Hamada joins Paramount in charge of the mainstream horror genre

Walter Hamada recently parted ways with Warner Bros. Discovery where Hamada was in charge of the DC films and under his guidance saw the billion-dollar Aquaman and Joker movies released. Hamada was also in charge of The Conjuring franchise which brought in billions.

Now Hamada is taking his knowledge of horror and films to Paramount as it is announced starting in January, he will run Paramount’s mainstream horror genre, which will see several low- to mid-budget films released per year across theatrical and streaming. 

“With his track record for groundbreaking success, Walter is the ideal partner and visionary to build out our mainstream horror genre franchise business,” said Paramount Pictures president and CEO Brian Robbins. “As evidenced by the fantastic performance of Smile, there is a tremendous appetite for original, high-concept storytelling in the global marketplace, and we look forward to a long and successful partnership.” 

Said Hamada: “I am thrilled to collaborate with Paramount Pictures with the singular goal of creating exceptional movies in the horror genre. Over the course of my career, nothing has been more gratifying than discovering emerging, first-time filmmakers and writers and unleashing their brilliance in a studio setting. Thank you to Brian and the entire team at Paramount Pictures for this tremendous opportunity, I can’t wait to get started.”

Paramount recently saw big success by releasing the horror mystery thriller Smile in theaters instead of on streaming as Smile brought in over $200 million on a reported budget of $17 million; the flick is now streaming on Paramount Plus and is available through VOD.

Sylvester Stallone stars in Tulsa King on Paramount Plus
Sylvester Stallone stars in ‘Tulsa King’

Warren Buffet increases Paramount stock

Regarding the stock jump, the price is over 5% on Tuesday (and more than 20% on the week) thanks to it learned that billionaire investor Warren Buffet raised his stake in Paramount Global to 91.2 million Paramount shares up from his known August holdings of 69 million shares.

Presently, those 91.2 million shares are worth around $1.72 billion dollars.

Harrison Ford in 1923 Paramount Plus
Harrison Ford in ‘1923’

Paramount Plus has some good shows

Regarding the quality shows on Paramount Plus, my two favorites include Evil starring Luke Cage actor Mike Colter, and Mayor of Kingstown starring Hawkeye actor Jeremy Renner.

Paramount Plus also has the Star Trek shows (could be better), Halo which is getting a Season 2 (could be better), and Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone; 1883 the Yellowstone prequel; 1923 starring Harrison Ford (premiers Sunday, Dec. 18), and the new Sylvester Stallone series Tulsa King.

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