Walter Hamada, who recently left his position as President of DC-Based Film Production at Warner Bros. Pictures, is getting a new gig. The mastermind behind many superhero-centric films inked an exclusive, multi-year production deal with Paramount Pictures. Hamada’s new position goes into effect on January 1, 2023. At that time, Hamada will take the reigns of the studio’s mainstream horror arm to release several low-to-mid-budget films annually across theatrical and streaming platforms.
“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. “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.”
Under Hamada’s leadership, DC Films experienced tremendous success with features like Aquaman and Joker, earning over $1 billion worldwide. He was also the driving force behind films like Black Adam, The Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman 1984, and Shazam! Before Hamada left DC, he helped bring The Flash, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and Shazam: Fury of the Gods to fruition. With so many blockbusters under his belt, Paramount hopes Hamada will generate the same success for modestly-budgeted horror films at the studio.
“I am thrilled to collaborate with Paramount Pictures with the singular goal of creating exceptional movies in the horror genre,” said Hamada. “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.”
What do you think about Hamada taking up a new position at Paramount? Will his experience serve the studio well in its mission to produce more horror movies for a reasonable amount of dollars? Horror is a genre that doesn’t need boatloads of cash to get the job done, and Hamada strikes me as a person who knows how to stretch a budget. Let’s see what he’s got, shall we?