UNITED STATES—I truly do not know how I feel about this merging of two iconic movie studios. For years, I loved the fact that you had so many studios that were separate entities because it seemed to make things more competitive in the movie universe if you ask me. However, that seems to be changing more and more which makes things scary. 20th Century Fox used to be its own entity, but that was soon enveloped with Disney which has become a major titan, and as of the past week you know have Skydance (don’t love the name at all people) with the merger of titan Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures.
Both Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures are iconic movie studios with some mega franchises and names that you know as soon as you hear it. I mean “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” “Mission: Impossible,” “Friday the 13th,” “The Godfather,” “The Exorcist,” I can keep going and keep going. My biggest concern is what is going to happen with some of these iconic franchises that were once owned by Warner Bros. that now have its clutches in the hands of the newly grouped entity with Paramount Pictures.
News already came that a new “Nightmare on Elm Street” franchise is coming courtesy of Paramount Pictures after it purchased the rights to the film courtesy of the Wes Craven estate. I mean the 2010 remake was dreadful, so one can only hope they can do better, but I don’t have high hopes with Paramount Pictures when it comes to the horror realm because they just don’t seem to care as much. Look at the first 8 flicks of “Friday the 13th.”
Truly, only the first flick is iconic, and when you have Peacock getting ready to release the “Crystal Lake” mini-series, I don’t even know if Paramount Pictures still holds the rights to the franchise, which I think was sold to New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. before it went back to Victor Cruz’s and his family. Yeah, movie rights can become downright frustrating and chaotic. Could this make the movie market more competitive potentially, but you have to be concerned about the TV landscape, and when I say that I’m talking about a lot of content when it comes to cable TV.
CNN and HBO were owned by Time Warner aka Warner Bros. CNN as many knows is left-leading, while FOX News is right-leaning. It’s no secret that David Ellison is an ally to President Donald Trump, so there are concerns about media conglomerates shifting story narratives to fit the President’s narrative. That could be quite dangerous in the realm of journalism. Just look at 60 Minutes that has such a new ushering in its content that has made the iconic news series almost forgettable news. I truly hope that is not the case, but time will tell what unfolds.
The biggest issue comes with streaming services. HBO Max and Paramount + are two separate streaming entities, but Ellison has already made it clear he plans to envelope the two streaming services into one. That is not good for consumers. Why? Oh, baby you can expect those costs to rise again and that is going to be an absolute bummer for the consumer who continues to get pinch with every single penny they have.
I already pay $18 plus for HBO Max solo without ads. I don’t have Paramount +. I had it, but the constant rising of prices forced me to get rid of it. I refuse to pay more than $10 a month for a streaming service that doesn’t offer a ton of content for me to sink my teeth into. If I see the prices go too high, I will get rid of HBO Max, as much as I love it, I can lose it. It is not a must, it’s a bonus perk. We will see where things head in the next 5 years, considering I’ve actually visited the Paramount Pictures lot when I was a teenager, I was amazed by it, but things have vastly changed, which could be a good or very bad thing.
