Barry Diller: 'I Never Said Legacy Studios Couldn't Thrive in the Future'

The mogul responds when asked about his 40 years of trash-talking Hollywood and the movies as he enters the fray for his one-time home: Paramount

THEN AND NOW Diller in 1977 (with Warren Beatty) at the 'Black Sunday' premiere when he ran Paramount, and in 2023. (1977: Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images; 2023: Ray Tamarra/GC Images)

After former Paramount Pictures CEO Barry Diller lost out to Sumner Redstone and Viacom in 1994 to purchase Paramount after a six-month battle, he issued a legendary terse statement:

“They won. We lost. Next.”

Flash forward 30 years and “next” for the ever-restless Diller is . . . Paramount! On Monday, The New York Times reported that Diller — through the…