Paramount sets up new specialty unit
Director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s film “Babel,” which premieres at Cannes on Tuesday, will be the first movie released by a new specialty film division of Paramount Pictures, the studio announced Friday.
The new division, Paramount Vantage, is expected to release about eight to 10 movies a year, ranging from sophisticated films with art-house sensibility to smaller-budget comedy and horror films, according to a company statement.
Other films expected for next year include the Coen brothers’ “No Country for Old Men,” Paul Thomas Anderson’s “There Will Be Blood” and an untitled project starring Nicole Kidman, Jack Black and Jennifer Jason Leigh.
The president of Paramount Vantage and Paramount Classics, John Lesher, said in a statement that becoming competitive in specialty films is part of Paramount chief Brad Grey’s vision for turning around the studio.
Paramount Classics, meanwhile, will focus on smaller, “review-driven” films including foreign-language titles and documentaries, according to Paramount.
The biggest entertainment stories
Get our big stories about Hollywood, film, television, music, arts, culture and more right in your inbox as soon as they publish.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
