Analysis: Paramount's State of Slate

A title-by-title look at the suddenly swaggy studio. Oh Shari!

(Illustration by Haley Kruger/Paramount)

This is the second in an ongoing series examining the slates at the town’s studios. The first was about Warner Bros.

Paramount Pictures, the studio whose last rites have been delivered countless times in Hollywood, has been on fire over these first nearly six months of the year.

Scream ($140 million worldwide). Jackass Forever ($80 million). Sonic the Hedgehog 2 ($392 million). The Lost City ($185 million — impressive for an original). Top Gun: Maverick ($569 million and counting).

That is a slate right there. And it’s a far cry from the 4.8 percent market share days in 2017 when the studio was putting out 10 movies a year (this year brings nine theatrical releases, and many more on streaming, while you can expect at least 10