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Two of Hollywood’s biggest names have thrown their weight behind Skydance’s bid for Paramount as it moves to fend off a rival approach from Sony and Apollo.
James Cameron, whose film Titanic is the biggest hit in Paramount’s history, and Endeavor chief executive Ari Emanuel told the Financial Times that they believed Skydance founder David Ellison could revive the struggling company.
“I love the Ellison idea,” Cameron said in an interview. “If he gets . . . to run Paramount creatively, it could be a huge boon for this business in these ailing times. David’s proven himself.”
Emanuel, a Hollywood “superagent” and chief executive of the company that owns the WME talent agency and controls TKO Group, said Ellison is “a natural acquirer” of the company.
“David has a real movie business [with] big franchises,” he said. “Everybody is in business with him — Amazon, Netflix, Apple, Paramount and Disney all have a good relationship with David.”
Ellison, son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison, launched Skydance in 2010 and has made a number of blockbusters, including Top Gun: Maverick, which Paramount released.
Backed by private equity groups RedBird and KKR, Ellison is pursuing a two-step deal. First, he would pay $2bn for National Amusements, which houses the majority of the voting shares that are controlled by Shari Redstone. Paramount would then acquire Skydance for $5bn in a stock deal.
Paramount is among the most legendary companies in Hollywood, but it has struggled to compete in a brutal streaming battle that has upended the entertainment business.
Paramount is controlled by Redstone’s National Amusements, a family business that started out as a chain of New England cinemas in the 1930s. NAI controls nearly 80 per cent of the voting shares of Paramount, but holds only about 10 per cent of its equity.
The endorsements from Cameron and Emanuel come at a precarious moment for Ellison’s bid.
Skydance had been in exclusive negotiations with Paramount, but that window lapsed on Friday without an agreement. A special committee appointed by the Paramount board, which is tasked with evaluating the group’s options, can continue to weigh the bid, however. Sources close to the bid told the FT that Ellison was willing to walk away, though no immediate indications suggested he was preparing to do so.
The end of the exclusive window came just a day after Sony and private equity group Apollo submitted a $26bn offer for Paramount.
In Hollywood there are fears that an Apollo-Sony acquisition of Paramount would reduce the number of major studios, leading to job cuts and potentially throwing into question the future of the storied Paramount lot on Melrose Avenue.
But some Paramount investors have told the FT they prefer Apollo’s approach, saying it would offer a better premium for common shareholders.
At the weekend, Warren Buffett revealed he had sold his entire stake in Paramount at a loss. Buffett’s $2.6bn investment in 2022 was seen as a bullish sign for Paramount, but the shares have plummeted more than 60 per cent since Berkshire first disclosed its stake.
“I think I’m smarter now than I was a year or two ago, but I also think I’m poorer because I acquired the knowledge in the manner I did,” Buffett said, referring to his understanding of the entertainment business. “We lost money on Paramount and I did it all by myself folks.”
Emanuel said Ellison, who is 41, has “a fire in his belly” that could help turn the company around.
“I don’t want to denigrate anybody, but I think [Paramount] needs a little bit of new energy. I think he will bring that,” he said. “I think he’ll be an incredible additional partner to Shari in this situation.”
Cameron said he worked as a behind-the-scenes adviser to Ellison during Skydance’s production of Terminator Genisys, a sequel to his 1984 classic Terminator. “I was sceptical of the trust fund baby, you know, dad’s money,” he said. “Yeah, he had the resources, but he also was the right guy to be able to command those resources.”
He added: “I wouldn’t hesitate to work with him on a project . . . and we do have some things cooking.”
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