Marc Weinstock: Last News

David S. Cohen Senior Editor, Features Turning a piece of filmed entertainment into a cultural phenomenon is both an art and a science, say marketers.  But in the 2020s, the science has turbocharged the art.  Variety spoke to two marketing gurus who promoted such blockbusters: Pia Chaozon Barlow, executive VP of HBO and HBO Max originals marketing, who aims to recapture the magic of “Game of Thrones” with spinoff “House of the Dragon”; and Marc Weinstock, Paramount’s president of global distribution and marketing. Paramount has opened five features at #1 in 2022, culminating with “Top Gun: Maverick,” which has grossed more than $1.4 billion.

Meredith Woerner Deputy Editor, Variety.comVariety and Meta hosted an intimate dinner with top entertainment marketing executives in Beverly Hills on Wednesday at Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura. Among the notables who took part were Universal Pictures’ Dwight Caines, Paramount Pictures’ Marc Weinstock, Warner Bros.’ Josh Goldstine, Hulu’s Barrie Gruner, Searchlight Pictures’ Michelle Hooper, HBO/Max’s Pia Chaozon Barlow, the CW’s Chris Spadaccini, Disney’s Ryan Stankevich, Netflix’s Shelly Gillyard, Paramount+’s Michael Engleman and BET Networks’ Kimberly K.

At their CinemaCon presentation this AM, Paramount Pictures today announced a three-year extension of its first-look deal with producer Neal H. Moritz and his Original Film banner.

Michaela Zee Paramount’s “Mean Girls” musical earned a grool $33.2 million from 3,791 theaters over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, beating expectations. Based on the Broadway adaptation of the 2004 comedy classic, “Mean Girls” was originally commissioned with plans to skip theaters and make a streaming debut directly on Paramount+, but executives opted for a theatrical release after test screenings.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter You’d be forgiven if you thought butter was a carb, just like it’s totally understandable if you didn’t know the new “Mean Girls” is a musical. Paramount, which released the movie over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, chose not to explicitly market it as a song-and-dance spectacle, according to the studio’s president of global marketing Marc Weinstock.

Meredith Woerner Deputy Editor, Variety.com The masterminds behind memorable marketing moments from “Barbie,” “Call of Duty,” “Pokerface” and even that creepy “Smile” campaign that placed grinning actors at various Major League Baseball games gathered Thursday at the Variety + Spotify Advertising’s Visionaries dinner to toast leaders in the field. West Hollywoods’ Sunset Tower Hotel welcomed the industry’s leading innovators selected for Variety’s 2023 Digital Marketing Impact Report and the four recipients of the Variety Entertainment Marketing Visionaries Award, presented by Spotify.

Whitney Cinkala Variety and Spotify will host the 2023 Entertainment Marketing Visionaries Dinner on Thursday, Oct. 26. The invite-only dinner, held in Los Angeles, will bring together top entertainment marketers from the film, TV, music and technology sectors.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter A familiar face is back on the Croisette. Well, kind of… Tom Cruise may not be attending this year’s Cannes Film Festival, where “Top Gun: Maverick” premiered in 2022 to massive fanfare, but the star’s presence is enduring in the South of France. For festival attendees, it’s impossible to miss the giant LED screen outside the famed Carlton Hotel, where a trailer of “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1” has been playing on loop all week. It’s designed to hype up movie lovers for the seventh installment in the globe-trotting franchise, which has no affiliation with Cannes, but debuts theatrically in July. “We’ve had this location for years because it’s at the heart of the festival action,” says Marc Weinstock, Paramount’s president of worldwide marketing and distribution. “Cannes is a renowned festival with global reach, which is why we chose to screen ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ there. It’s the perfect setting to showcase a Tom Cruise movie.”

William Earl Variety is pleased to announce additional speakers for its annual Entertainment Marketing Summit, presented by Deloitte, on April 19 in Los Angeles, including Christian Parkes, CMO, Neon; Catherine Halaby, head of entertainment, North America, TikTok; Deon Graham, chief brand officer, Combs Global; and Rachel Delphin, CMO, Twitch. Parkes and Halaby will join a Keynote Entertainment Marketing Leaders panel, also including Karen Bronzo, CMO, Warner Bros. Discovery; Dwight Caines, president, domestic marketing, Universal Pictures; and Marc Weinstock, president, worldwide marketing and distribution, Paramount Pictures. Graham, who oversees campaigns for Sean Combs’ businesses such as Revolt TV and Cîroc Vodka, will join a multicultural marketing conversation featuring Ellene V. Miles, SVP intersectional marketing, Sony Pictures Entertainment/ Motion Picture Group; Christine Benitez, SVP multicultural marketing, Paramount Pictures; and Claudia Chagui, SVP marketing and creative, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises.

William Earl Variety is pleased to announce the return of its Entertainment Marketing Summit, presented by Deloitte, on April 19 in Los Angeles. This year’s summit will feature Karen Bronzo, chief marketing officer, Warner Bros. Discovery; Dwight Caines, president, domestic marketing, Universal Pictures; Marc Weinstock, president, worldwide marketing and distribution, Paramount Pictures; Lisa Vanderpump, TV personality and executive producer of “Vanderpump Rules,” businesswoman, author and philanthropist; Terry Crews, actor, bestselling author, entrepreneur and host; among other elite creative and industry speakers. Bronzo, Caines and Weinstock will be among participants of a Keynote Entertainment Marketing Roundtable, moderated by Claudia Eller, chief production officer, Variety, in which leading film and TV marketers will share how they are promoting their projects to today’s audiences.

Paramount’s Sonic The Hedgehog 2 has crossed the $400M threshold at the global box office, including $190.6M from domestic and $209.5M internationally through Tuesday. It is currently the No. 8 film worldwide in 2022 and is likely to jump up a few notches as it still has Japan and Hong Kong to release. At Paramount’s CineEurope presentation today, a threequel was touted.