Paramount and Warner Music team up to make more music-focused movies

In caller months, movie theaters person seen the likes of Elvis Presley, Billie Eilish, BTS and Michael Jackson instrumentality connected the large screen. Whether it’s successful the signifier of a performance film, a documentary oregon a biopic, music-based theatrical releases person delighted audiences — and some large studios and grounds labels are taking note.

Paramount Pictures and Warner Music Group are joining forces to marque movies featuring apical endowment connected Warner’s roster, the companies announced Thursday. The multi-year, first-look woody volition diagnostic immoderate of Warner’s astir recognizable artists similar Madonna, and the precocious David Bowie and Frank Sinatra — arsenic good arsenic modern popular stars similar Charli Xcx and Dua Lipa.

Together, the companies anticipation to harvester WMG’s immense euphony catalog and Paramount’s theatrical acquisition to make much music-themed live-action and animated films.

“Every creator deserves to archer the stories down their beingness and euphony successful their ain originative way, and we’re excited to spouse with our unthinkable endowment and world-class filmmakers to bring these stories to the large screen, increasing their audiences astir the world,” Robert Kyncl, WMG’s main enforcement officer, said successful a statement.

WMG volition enactment with its accumulation partner, Unigram and Paramount to make each task successful conjunction with the artists oregon their estates. The collaboration aims to springiness euphony artists much latitude erstwhile their enactment is utilized successful diagnostic films oregon erstwhile storylines are based connected them.

Unigram co-founder Amanda Ghost said the woody “finds caller ways to empower iconic artists and to bring their originative worlds to the surface with euphony arsenic a cardinal character.”

The announcement comes aft Paramount celebrated the premiere of the Billie Eilish performance movie “Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour” astatine the Westwood Village Theater Wednesday night. The 3D feature, co-directed by Eilish and James Cameron, is acceptable to deed theaters this play and follows her astir caller stint of performances.

Music continues to beryllium a immense gully for movie theaters arsenic the manufacture navigates unsmooth waters amid hopes of a durable postpandemic recovery. Major releases similar the box-office-topping biopics similar “Michael,” and documentaries similar “EPiC: Elvis Presley successful Concert” proceed to gully sizable and enthusiastic theatre audiences.

In caller years, Paramount besides helped bring movies similar the Bob Marley biopic “One Love” (2024) and Elton John’s “Rocketman” (2019) to theaters.

Earlier this week, movie theatre concatenation AMC revealed its theaters volition statesman rolling retired a caller benignant of immersive performance acquisition successful June. The conception volition diagnostic acts similar Paris Hilton and Kim Petras performing connected a distant signifier arsenic the amusement is beamed into theaters astir the country. Though dissimilar a emblematic livestream, caller exertion allows artists to see, perceive and respond to the theatre audience, successful effect turning the section AMC into a virtual performance venue.