Paramount+ Expanding Movie Output Starting with Mark Wahlberg Thriller ‘Infinite’
ViacomCBS is ramping up the movie output for its streaming service Paramount+, beginning with sci-fi thriller Infinite, which will skip a theatrical release and debut directly on the streamer next month.
The film, starring Mark Wahlberg and Chiwetel Ejiofor, was meant to open in theaters in 2020 but was delayed due to the pandemic. It was then later scheduled for a Memorial Day weekend 2021 theatrical release, but will now go straight to streaming. Bob Bakish, President of ViacomCBS, made the announcement during a first-quarter earnings call on Thursday.
Infinite is an adaptation of the D. Eric Maikranz novel The Reincarnationist Papers about a secret society of people who possess total recall of their past lives. Wahlberg plays a near-suicidal man who finds himself having skills he never learned and visions of places he’s never been. The project is directed by Antoine Fuqua and also stars Sophie Cookson, Jason Mantzoukas, Rupert Friend, Toby Jones and Dylan O’Brien.
The movie’s arrival on Paramount+ will kickstart the streamer’s planned expansion of its film catalog. This includes a “Mountain of Movies” marketing campaign, which Bakish explained “will highlight the thousands of new movies we are adding to Paramount+, including blockbuster hits and exclusive originals.”
The CEO revealed that 1,000 additional movie titles will be added to the streaming service early June, with even more to follow in July. This will include popular hits such as The Avengers and Skyfall, alongside Paramount movies like Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Rocketman, and Sonic the Hedgehog.
John Krasinski‘s A Quiet Place Part II will also land on Paramount+ just 45 days after it opens in theaters on May 28. This will be followed by the new Paw Patrol movie, as well as Paranormal Activity and The In Between, all of which are expected to hit the streamer before the end of 2021.
“And all of this is a preview to a substantial ramping up of original movies next year, when we expect to begin averaging an original movie a week in 2022,” Bakish stated.
