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A huge Amazon Prime Video series is now living in production limbo

Paramount is laying people off, and leaving some shows with major question marks.

By Joe Allen Aug 14, 2024 1:29 PM

Alan Ritchson in Reacher — Amazon Prime Video

Some layoffs at Paramount could have major repercussions for Reacher, one of the biggest shows on Amazon Prime Video. According to reporting at Indiewire, Paramount has shut down its Television Studios wing as part of global layoffs that will affect 15% of its workforce. Paramount Television Studios was the studio behind Reacher, as well as HBO’s Station Eleven and Showtime’s A Gentleman in Moscow, among other shows.

Existing projects, which would include Reacher, are expected to be folded into CBS Studios, but it’s unclear how much of the staff from Paramount Television Studios will be making the transition. The studio also has several upcoming series including Cross, Before and Murderbot.

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The news that Paramount Television Studios is shutting down comes as the company’s CEO wants to find $500 million in annual cost savings, and the company’s new ownership at Skydance wants to build on that momentum to get to $2 billion of reduced expenses.

Paramount is one of Hollywood’s oldest studios, but it has fallen on hard times in recent years after a string of failures at the box office. Now, in spite of its storied reputation, the future of the studio is very much up in the air.

The news of Paramount’s sale, and of the TV Studio’s closure, is part of a broader story of consolidation in Hollywood that has been happening for more than a decade. As the business of Hollywood continues to evolve and change, and new players enter the space, it’s unclear what the role of these legacy studios might be moving forward. For now, we know that one small part of the studio is no more.

Joe Allen is a freelance writer at Digital Trends, where he covers Movies and TV. He frequently writes streaming… Read Full Bio

The Golf Channel’s Betting on Reality TV Again With ‘Big Break,’ Which Returns After More Than 10 Years

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The Big Break was an incredibly popular show on The Golf Channel for over a decade. The reality TV series premiered in 2003 and aired 23 seasons until 2015, when it was canceled. At the time, NBC owned the Golf Channel, and the network made cuts throughout, which included axing Big Break. The series pitted aspiring pro golfers against a series of challenges. Think Survivor meets Wipeout. But the stakes were high, with the winner ultimately receiving the grand prize of a sponsor exemption at a pro golf tournament.

The series, which debuted in 2003, featured a myriad of skills challenges, including the popular “Glass Break” and “Flop Wall” challenges. And after NBC sold off some of its assets, including the Golf Channel, new owner Versant — in collaboration with the golf media company Good Good — is bringing back the popular series for its 24th season, which is being co-hosted by Bachelor in Paradise fame Wells Adams and former LPGA Tour pro and Golf Channel personality Blair O’Neal. The team is also made up of Good Good Golf’s Matt Scharff, who will be a reporter, along with Brad Dalke and Tom “Bubbie” Broders as non-playing team captains.

5 Tips to Man Up Your Interiors with Art and Culture

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At 17, I finally realized that my father was cool all along. His dad jokes were inspired, and his weekend uniform, a knit polo tucked into sensible khakis, was preferable to the ungodly amount of popped collars I layered. Now a well-adjusted 37-year-old, I feel similarly towards my dear grandfather, particularly in his interior decor. Grandpa outfitted his study with culture and art; he didn’t have a mancave, he had a gentleman cave.

Entering your 40s, you’ve conceivably invested in a watch that will outlive you, but not a tip-top display case. You can confidently choose a bottle of whiskey and a cigar, but does your space need decanters or humidors? Should you acquire an oil painting to hang by your Neil Leifer football photography? Some leather-bound classics to accompany your TASCHEN James Bond coffee table book?

We’re only a few months away from our new Bond, Producer Amy Pascal teases

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Since Daniel Craig bit the big one in his James Bond swan song in 2021’s No Time to Die, fans have been waiting to find out who the next person to drink the martini shaken instead of stirred will be. In true Bond fandom fashion, a whole slew of fancasts have started to muddle the waters as to who could possibly be the new 007. Callum Turner, Jacob Elordi, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and more have all been pitched as possible replacements. Some more ethnically diverse options like Henry Golding and Rene Jean-Page have also emerged. But, alas, no word has come down from on high to give us the scratch to this fan itch raging on for the last five years. That is, until Producer Amy Pascal sat down during her Spider-Man: Brand New Day press tour and gave a bit of insight on when we can expect an announcement, and also what we can expect in the cast.

I would say the end of the year is a good bet. We are being really, really methodical. – Amy Pascal