James Cameron Bolsters Support for Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger, Says Ellison-Run Mega-Studio ‘Doesn’t Bother Me at All’

Just as thousands of his industry peers are raising calls to block Paramount’s $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, “Avatar” and “Titanic” filmmaker James Cameron doubled down on his support of the merger, telling the Associated Press, “I’m a supporter of it. I know it’s controversial.”

In an AP report published Tuesday on the industry’s consensus on Paramount’s next big move, Cameron said in an interview conducted last week that he has faith Paramount CEO David Ellison is “the right man for the job to run a major studio” and that an Ellison-run mega-studio between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery “doesn’t bother me at all.”

“I know David quite well. And I know that he really cares about movies,” Cameron told the outlet. “And he’s a natural born storyteller and thinks like almost an old school entrepreneurial producer that was a storyteller that loves storytelling and loved putting on spectacular shows.

“He’s the right man for the job to run a major studio, and now it looks like he’s going to have two of them, you know, swept under his leadership, which doesn’t bother me at all.”

Cameron previously worked with Ellison on “Terminator: Dark Fate” and was a vocal proponent of Paramount winning the bidding war for Warner Bros. over Netflix’s $83 billion offer last year. The storied filmmaker took particular issue with Netflix’s theatrical strategy — or lack thereof.

“I think Paramount’s the best choice,” Cameron said in a November interview. “Netflix would be a disaster. Sorry, Ted, but geez. Sarandos has gone on the record saying theatrical films are dead. ‘Theatrical is dead.’ Quote, unquote.”

Cameron specifically pointed to Netflix’s previous use of micro-windows in theaters to gain consideration at the Oscars as a matter of concern.

“It’s sucker bait,” he said at the time. “‘We’ll put the movie out for a week or 10 days. We’ll qualify for Oscar consideration.’ See, I think that’s fundamentally rotten to the core. A movie should be made as a movie for theatrical, and the Academy Awards mean nothing to me if they don’t mean theatrical. I think they’ve been co-opted, and I think it’s horrific.”

Ellison, meanwhile, has assured in his acquisition of the legacy studio that the Paramount-Warner Bros. film slates would see 30-plus theatrical releases a year.

Cameron’s AP comments came Tuesday as industry heavyweights Pedro Pascal, Florence Pugh, Edward Norton, J.J. Abrams, David Fincher, Jason Bateman, Kristen Stewart, Emma Thompson, Ben Stiller and Lin-Manuel Miranda all signed a fast-growing open letter from the Democracy Defenders Fund supporting action by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, fellow state attorneys general and others to investigate and block the Paramount-Warner Bros. transaction.

“We are deeply concerned by indications of support for this merger that prioritize the interests of a small group of powerful stakeholders over the broader public good,” the letter, signed by over 2,000 industry professionals, reads. “The integrity, independence, and diversity of our industry would be grievously compromised. Competition is essential for a healthy economy and a healthy democracy. So is thoughtful regulation and enforcement.”

The post James Cameron Bolsters Support for Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger, Says Ellison-Run Mega-Studio ‘Doesn’t Bother Me at All’ appeared first on TheWrap.