Paramount Players is an American film production label of

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

, focusing on "contemporary properties" while working with other

Paramount Global Paramount Global ( doing business as Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned and operated by National Amusements (79.4%) and headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York. ...

brands. The name alludes to the company's earliest origins as Famous Players Film Company, before its 1914 founding by

William Wadsworth Hodkinson William Wadsworth Hodkinson (August 16, 1881 – June 2, 1971), known more commonly as W. W. Hodkinson, was born in Independence, Kansas. Known as ''The Man Who Invented Hollywood'', he opened one of the first movie theaters in Ogden, Utah in 190 ...

History

On June 7, 2017,

Jim Gianopulos James N. Gianopulos ( el, Δημήτρης Γιαννόπουλος) is an American businessman. He served as the head of 20th Century Fox and most recently as the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Paramount Pictures until his ouster i ...

, who joined Paramount Pictures as the Chairman and CEO in March, announced the launch of the Paramount Players division with Brian Robbins, the founder and former CEO of

AwesomenessTV Awesomeness (abbreviation of AwesomenessTV) is an American-based film and television studio as well as a multi-channel based multilingual television network owned by Paramount Digital Studios, a division of Paramount Global. Established in June ...

, as president. Robbins will work with Viacom’s

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

, Comedy Central and

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...

operations to generate projects while the new division focuses on "contemporary properties." The division was created after Paramount and Viacom expressed disappointment at Comedy Central stars

Jordan Peele Jordan Haworth Peele (born February 21, 1979) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is best known for his film and television work in the comedy and horror genres. Peele's breakout role came in 2003, when he was hired as a cast membe ...

and

Amy Schumer Amy Beth Schumer (born June 1, 1981) is an American stand-up comedian and actress. She ventured into comedy in the early 2000s before appearing as a contestant on the fifth season of the NBC reality competition series ''Last Comic Standing'' ...

producing their own films (2017's '' Get Out'' and 2015's '' Trainwreck'', respectively) for

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

due to feeling "unwelcome" by Paramount's former executives. On August 17, 2017, Paramount Players acquired its first project, which is a film adaptation of the book ''Vacation Guide to the Solar System'' by Jonathan Goldstein and

John Francis Daley John Francis Daley (born July 20, 1985) is an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, and musician. He is known for playing high school freshman Sam Weir on the NBC comedy-drama '' Freaks and Geeks'' and FBI criminal profiler D ...

. On October 1, 2018, Brian Robbins left his position as the president of Paramount Players after Viacom tapped him to be the president of

, ending his 16-month run at the studio. Despite leaving the studio, he will remain involved with Paramount Players' Nickelodeon films (''Dora and the Lost City of Gold'' and ''Playing with Fire''). Wyck Godfrey, the president of Paramount Motion Picture Group, is serving as interim and will oversee day-to-day operations with support from Robbins until Paramount finds a new president for the studio. On June 30, 2020, Emma Watts replaced Wyck Godfrey as the president of Paramount Motion Picture Group and began on July 20 (Godfrey returned to producing). In October, Watts tapped Jeremy Kramer as president. On March 8, 2022, Kramer stepped down and the studio's operations were merged into the purview of Mike Ireland and Daria Cercek, the head executives of the Paramount Pictures Motion Picture Group, though Paramount Players and its current film inventory remains otherwise unaffected.

Films

Released films

Upcoming films

In development

Highest-grossing films

References

{{ViacomCBS Paramount Pictures Entertainment companies based in California Film production companies of the United States Companies based in Los Angeles Entertainment companies established in 2017 2017 establishments in California