Studio Mandates 2026 — Paramount, Warner Bros., New Line, and Skydance Sports: Epic Tom Cruise Horror and Details on the New 'Star Trek' Movie

Happy Wednesday, folks!

It was a game of musical chairs today in Hollywood, as Ryan Coogler moved his TV operations from Disney to Netflix, while Quinta Brunson moved her company from WB to Disney. WB walked away with nothing today, though I’m willing to sign a deal with the studio right now, just so they don’t feel left out.

Today, I assure you, they won’t.

See, last week, I received a 19-page document listing Studio Mandates for this summer, and there was some pretty interesting info in the document, which I’m sharing in its entirety over the next several days.

Now, I want to be clear about two things: this is an external document compiled by an agency or management company, and I’m presenting these entries pretty much exactly how they are in the document, with a few formatting and content tweaks since I spent most of Wednesday afternoon fact-checking, etc.

Apparently, I was so good at it that — paging Dr. Seuss — I forced Survivor host Jeff Probst to post a video announcing a new animated Survivor movie that’s in the works at Paramount Animation, something I discussed with the studio’s publicist just hours earlier, as the document in question references said project.

Can you say frustrating?

Disney did not get a heads-up. Searchlight did not get a heads-up. 20th Century Studios did not get a heads-up, and I adore Steve Asbell. But if your PR peeps don’t play ball with The InSneider, then The InSneider does not play ball with your PR peeps. It’s as simple as that, really.

Yesterday, I played ball with Paramount, and it bit me in the ass… but don’t worry, I’ll make it up to you premium subscribers, since you deserve to be spoiled for all that you do… keeping me alive and such. I’m confident that I’ll kiss and make up with Paramount, but the bruise will linger all the same. Sigh…

Keep in mind that I’m not necessarily “reporting” any of this stuff, I’m merely “sharing” it. I offer my own analysis after, as well as some creative pitches that studio execs and producers should really consider. I know… my ego knows no bounds.

The other thing to keep in mind is that Paramount is on the verge of buying Warner Bros., after which, all bets are off. These mandates will be largely moot by that point, for as much as David Ellison has said he won’t mess too much with how WB operates, there’s no question that there will need to be more synergy between the two studios regarding the types of movies they’ll be making and when they’ll be released.

If I’m not mistaken, Paramount is projecting a July 15 date for closing the WB deal, though some continue to see that as an aggressive target. We’ll see…

We’ll also see which studios I’ll be writing about next, as I still don’t know myself.

But today, I focus on Paramount Pictures, Paramount Animation, Skydance Sports, Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures Animation, and New Line Cinema.

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