Travis Scott is officially in the movie business.
Fresh off playing the bard in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, the rapper has signed a first-look deal with Paramount Pictures, and he already has his eye on one of the studio’s cult classics.
Variety revealed the deal Wednesday in a new cover story, with Scott’s Cactus Jack company set to develop film and television projects at the studio along with theater and other experiential ventures.
Paramount and Cactus Jack are not strangers. The two already partnered on limited edition SpongeBob SquarePants and Scream apparel drops that sold out almost instantly, and the new agreement expands that relationship into full-blown content production.
Paramount co-chair Josh Greenstein credits Scott with the rare ability to turn everything he touches into culture, which is exactly what a studio says when it is betting a music star can pull younger audiences back into theaters.
Scott’s recently wrapped Circus Maximus Tour sold 2.2 million tickets and grossed $265 million across two and a half years, the biggest solo rap tour ever.
Travis Scott wants to remake The Warriors
Scott counts the 1979 Paramount gang classic The Warriors among his favorite movies, and Variety says the film is what he and Greenstein bonded over when they first met.
Lin-Manuel Miranda is already bringing The Warriors to Broadway next spring, but Scott is game to craft his own remake of the property.
“That would actually be kind of crazy,” Scott said, adding he has been going back and forth on whether it works best as a show or another movie.
Nothing is officially in development at the studio yet, but Scott says he wants to chase dark, slow-burn thrillers in the vein of the Japanese hit Exit 8. He also confirmed he would be down for a biopic about his own life.
From bard to studio player
Scott opens The Odyssey by belting out the Song of Odysseus in front of Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson, a role born out of what Nolan has called his “crazy idea” to cast a rapper as the film’s poet.
In the new interview, Nolan explains the thinking: rappers carry on the same oral storytelling tradition the poets did in ancient Greece, and he wanted someone who could credibly hold a room’s attention with words alone.
Scott also co-wrote the film’s end credits song, When I’m Home, with composer Ludwig Goransson and James Blake. The track is the first songwriting credit of Nolan’s career and could land Scott in the Best Original Song race, as The Odyssey heads into awards season a heavy Oscar contender.
The timing is worth noting. Scott’s deal gives Paramount a culture play it can bank on right now while its $110 billion Warner Bros. Discovery takeover sits frozen until a trial verdict that could come as late as June 2027.
Scott potentially adapting The Warriors also fits with what our insiders have said about Paramount’s approach to new content in that they want to go big with their existing IPs, which include GI Joe and Star Trek.
Scott, meanwhile, is deep into his sixth studio album, the follow-up to Utopia. The Odyssey is now playing in theaters and IMAX after a $124.5 million domestic opening and an $87 million second weekend that topped The Dark Knight as the best second frame of Nolan’s career.
