Jamboree: Paramount Cries & Whispers
'Circling', 'kicking the tires', 'in talks' — where's the there there?
Some tongues are wagging today after a report that David Ellison’s Skydance is “kicking the tires” on a Paramount acquisition.
Now, not a week goes by that someone isn’t rumored to be this close to buying some studio. (Last week the hot rumor was that Walmart was looking to buy Warner Discovery.) Usually, the rumors aren’t just stated as kicking the tires, but passed along with incredible certitude: “Apple just closed the deal to buy Sony.” “Tesla is signing the papers to buy Netflix tonight.”
Could this be happening? It’s not impossible. Ellison isn’t denying it and “kicking the tires” covers a lot of ground. Whom among us isn’t kicking the tires on buying something, studio or otherwise? I for one am kicking the tires on pastrami for lunch today (but cooler heads likely will prevail).
But someone is going to buy Paramount probably pretty soon. Here’s how I read the situation: