Paramount and Netflix part ways on Animation Deal
Paramount Pictures has ended its distribution deal that had made Netflix the debut platform for its Skydance Animation features.
The deal was originally made in 2023, when Skydance Animation was under Skydance Media. Originally, Skydance had a deal with Apple TV to distribute its animated titles, but the streaming service backed out after its debut film Luck (2022) failed to meet critical and commercial expectations. Under this deal with Netflix, Skydance Animations debuted Swapped (2023), a fantasy animal body-swapping movie, and Spellbound (2024), another fantasy story of a princess dealing with a curse that turned her parents into rampaging beasts.
After Skydance Media merged with Paramount Global in 2025, the deal’s future seemed uncertain; further complemented by the two beginning a bidding war for Warner Bros., and now it seems to have come to a head.
In a statement about the ending of the deal, both companies assured that the ending of this deal will not affect the upcoming premieres of both Brad Birdʻs Ray Gun (2026) and a still-untitled Jack and the Beanstalk adaptation directed by Rich Moore of Wreck-It-Ralph (2012) fame, saying in part, “Netflix and Paramount have mutually agreed to conclude their animated film agreement. Both companies remain fully committed to the successful releases of Ray Gunn and the untitled Jack and the Beanstalk project on Netflix, and additionally will continue their longstanding content licensing relationship.”
In a surprise twist, instead of future animated movies going to Paramount’s own streaming service, Paramount+, it seems that going forward Skydance Animated films will get a full theatrical release. The first release to get that treatment is Cosmic Motors, which will be the first animated feature directed by a former Pixar head John Lasseter, who was let go from Disney and Pixar after a series of sexual misconduct accusations. This move might be related to David Ellisonʻs promise to have 30 theatrical releases a year following concerns over Paramountʻs merger with Warner Bros.
Netflix, in turn, will also have a theatrical release of its own coming. Next year, Charlie vs. the Chocolate Factory (2027), a retelling of Roald Dahl‘s classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, will be released in theatres for a couple of weeks before streaming online. Its other upcoming animated projects, like the Guillermo del Toro adaptation of The Buried Giant and the highly anticipated sequel to KPop Demon Hunters (2025), do not have a planned theatrical release date at the time of this article.
Other Paramount titles are unaffected by the end of this deal; shows like NCIS and Matlock still retain their streaming licenses and will continue to be available on Netflix.
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