Sony mulling Paramount buyout - reports

PlayStation maker Sony is considering a purchase of movie studio giant Paramount, according to reports.

Both The New York Times and Bloomberg report that Sony is interested in an offer for Paramount, which itself owns MTV, CBS and Nickelodeon, and operates streaming service Paramount+.

Sony, of course, already has its own vast film and television empire, and has bought other movie studios before - most notably Colombia Pictures, home to Spider-Man and Ghostbusters. It's interesting to look at Paramount's franchises in that light, and imagine how PlayStation could elevate one of those in a similar way to how it has championed Spider-Man.

Notably, Sony lacks a major streaming service, and in Paramount+ it would have a streaming home for its own properties, alongside lucrative Paramount franchises such as Mission Impossible and Star Trek. (It would also mean Sony owned the Halo TV series, which is amusing.)

Paramount is also home to numerous other franchises - many of which have had video game adaptations already. These include Friday the 13th, The Godfather, Top Gun, Jackass, Transformers and Cloverfield.

The proposed deal, a joint venture with investment firm Apollo Asset Management, would come as a rival to an existing offer to purchase Paramount from Skydance Media.

Skydance Media's bid for Paramount has reportedly had a mixed response from Paramount's board, prompting Sony's own entry into the proceedings. Skydance, of course, has its own video games division - including the Amy Hennig-led Skydance New Media studio based in Santa Monica, currently at work on Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra.