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Paramount+ is doubling down on movies, adding 1,000 more films to the streaming service next month, and plans to average one new, original movie every week in 2022.
In his quarterly earnings presentation Thursday, ViacomCBS Inc.
VIAC,
Chief Executive Robert Bakish laid out an ambitious plan to further bulk up the company’s streaming service, which rebranded from CBS All Access to Paramount+ earlier this year.
“Our movies push starting in June is massive,” Bakish said in a conference call with analysts. “We have movies on Paramount+ today, but frankly, not that many of them. That game changes dramatically in June. . . and they’re real movies, they’re not deep library.”
“We are poised to dramatically enhance the scale of our offering,” Bakish said, according to a FactSet transcript, adding 1,000 more movies in early June, with additional titles coming through July, bringing the total to 2,500. That will include hits such as Marvel’s “The Avengers,” the James Bond movie “Skyfall,” “Mission: Impossible–Ghost Protocol” and more.
Paramount+ will also premiere the new Mark Wahlberg sci-fi thriller “Infinite” in June, after its planned 2020 theatrical release was repeatedly delayed due to the pandemic. The highly anticipated thriller “A Quiet Place Part II” will stream on Paramount+ just 45 days after its May 28 theatrical release, and a new “PAW Patrol” movie will come this summer as well.
“And all of this is a preview to a substantial ramping up of original movies next year, where we expect to begin averaging an original movie a week in 2022,” Bakish said.
Bakish said Paramount+ added 6 million new subscribers in the quarter, for a total of 36 million overall, with live sports, children’s shows and unscripted reality shows driving new subscriptions.
In June, Paramount+ will also roll out a new $4.99-a-month subscription plan, with ads. It currently offers only a $9.99-a-month ad-free tier.
ViacomCBS Class B shares are down 2% year to date, but up 132% over the past 12 months, compared to the S&P 500’s
SPX,
46% gain over the past year.
