The fruits of her labor will be realized next year on the 2022 release calendar, God willing they all remain on the big screen.

That said, the notion was that Watts, upon her arrival to Paramount, would one day succeed Gianopulos.

There’s been rumors swirling that Paramount would continue on a theatrical track of six-to-eight films a year, but with Watts gone, that throws the studio’s theatrical outlook into question.

That didn’t happen, for minutes after the news of Watts’ exit, her lieutenants Paramount Co-Presidents of Production, Mike Ireland and Daria Cercek, were immediately named co-heads of the motion picture studio reporting directing to Robbins who now holds the title of President and Chief Executive Officer of Paramount Pictures.

In 2018, following the Disney-Fox merger, Watts transitioned to chief executive at the newly rebranded Twentieth Century Studios, and oversaw the production and release of Best Picture nominated Ford v Ferrari and production of Free Guy, which she also sensed was a novel mass-appealing comedy that would work on a grand scale.

She was right: Disney held the film through the pandemic for a theatrical release (largely due to the pic’s pay cable contract) and the Ryan Reynolds film has racked up $110M to date, one of the most successful films during the pandemic, and over $303M WW.

We continue to hear from Paramount insiders that the streaming platform is an additive to theatrical, that they’re not mutually exclusive.

is going back to a pure theatrical release slate next year, at least for its event titles.