UPDATE 3: A Paramount insider spells out the job: Larry Ellison, not David, brought in Kreiz to “cut cut cut”.
UPDATE 2: It’s confirmed. Paramount has named Kreiz Co-CEO of the combined Paramount Warner Bros., starting October 5, with Ellison staying Chairman and CEO.
UPDATE: Puck’s Dylan Byers reports that Ynon Kreiz will have a “very senior role,” with an insider adding: landing Ynon is “proof that we should never underestimate David Ellison.”
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Ynon Kreiz, the Mattel CEO who turned Barbie into a box office monster, is leaving the toy giant, and the rumor is he’s headed to David Ellison’s Paramount Warner Bros.
Mattel announced Wednesday that Kreiz steps down as chairman and CEO effective October 2 “to take a senior leadership position at another public company,” with Conde Nast boss Roger Lynch taking over.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, the buzz is that the unnamed public company is Ellison’s combined Paramount-Warner Bros., where Kreiz could land a top role. Paramount was not available for comment.
An industry insider told THR that Kreiz would be a “formidable” hire for Ellison.
The CEO Behind Barbie
Kreiz took over Mattel in 2018 and pushed the toy company into movies and TV.
The result was Barbie, the biggest movie of 2023 worldwide and still the highest-grossing Warner Bros. Pictures release of all time.
Before Mattel, Kreiz ran Maker Studios, selling it to Disney, and was CEO of the production giant Endemol.
THR notes what a Kreiz hire would mean: a veteran operator running the business side next to Ellison, whose background is creative.
Paramount had that setup once before with ex-NBCUniversal boss Jeff Shell as president, who left earlier this year after a whistleblower lawsuit that has since been settled.
The Shake-Ups Are Underway
Nothing can be official yet. Kreiz can’t be appointed to anything at the combined company until the judge signs off on Paramount’s settlement with the states and the deal closes, which could happen this week.
The timing fits the pattern. On Tuesday, Cindy Holland exited Paramount, with HBO’s Casey Bloys expected to run all streaming, and the WSJ reported more executive shake-ups were coming within days.
One day later, here’s Kreiz.
Barbie 2 Is Sitting At Warner Bros.
The fan angle writes itself. Warner Bros. has a December deadline to sign Greta Gerwig, Margot Robbie, and Ryan Gosling for Barbie 2 before the rights revert to Mattel.
Warner Bros. also has a Hot Wheels movie in the works from Wicked director Jon M. Chu, per THR. And Mattel holds the DC toy license.
The executive who controls all of that Mattel IP could soon be sitting on the studio side of the table.
Kreiz is out at Mattel October 2. The merger could have court approval before then.
