Walter Hamada, the former DC president, has recently signed with Paramount just weeks after parting ways with Warner Bros. Discovery. Hamada was in charge of DC films where he did groundbreaking work on movies like Joker (2019), The Suicide Squad (2021), and The Batman (2022). Hamada was a part of DC since 2018 and was supposed to re-up his contract at the beginning of January which would’ve lasted till 2023.
However, Hamada’s new signing with Paramount defines his position in the company as running Paramount’s mainstream horror genre. The contract for the executive producer is said to initialize on January 1, 2023.
Walter Hamada steps down as DC President
After a long tenure of many successful films, Walter Hamada finally stepped down as DC president. The Within producer was upset when the decision to cancel the Batgirl project wasn’t consulted with him. Hamada considered resigning then and there but decided to delay the action till the release of Black Adam. However, he stepped down on October 19, 2022, two days before the release of the film.
Walter Hamada was part of a controversy when Ray Fisher accused him of undermining an investigation into misconduct that was alleged to have occurred during Joss Whedon’s reshoots of Justice League.
The actor was even seen celebrating Hamada’s exit from DC, his exact words being,
“Walter Hamada tried to protect his toxic and discriminatory colleagues. He failed. He tried to bury me (and the Justice League investigation) with lies in the trades. He failed. He is a product of old Hollywood cronyism. May we never experience his like again. Onward!”
After David Zaslav took over the newly merged Warner Bros. Discovery, Hamada will be the fifth Warner Bros motion picture studio executive to leave preceded by Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group chairman Toby Emmerich, President of Production and Development Courtenay Valenti, Motion Picture Group COO Carolyn Blackwood, and Animation Group EVP Allison Abbate.
Walter Hamada signs with Paramount, overseeing the studio’s horror genre
Starting in January, Walter Hamada is said to be in charge of Paramount Pictures’ mainstream horror genre. The movies ranging from low to medium budget, whether to be released theatrically or through streaming, in the following years will be overseen by Hamada.
With Paramount’s latest release Smile proving to be a big success, Hamada’s expertise in the genre would be beneficial in lending more well-structured thrillers to the studio.
“With his track record for groundbreaking success, Walter is the ideal partner and visionary to build out our mainstream horror genre franchise business,” said Paramount Pictures president and CEO Brian Robbins about his recent partnership with Walter Hamada “As evidenced by the fantastic performance of Smile, there is a tremendous appetite for original, high-concept storytelling in the global marketplace, and we look forward to a long and successful partnership.”
In a way to express his gratitude to Paramount, Hamada said,
“I am thrilled to collaborate with Paramount Pictures with the singular goal of creating exceptional movies in the horror genre. Over the course of my career, nothing has been more gratifying than discovering emerging, first-time filmmakers and writers and unleashing their brilliance in a studio setting. Thank you to Brian and the entire team at Paramount Pictures for this tremendous opportunity, I can’t wait to get started.”
Walter Hamada’s promising work can go a long way if used properly in Paramount Pictures.
Source: Twitter