Hollywood has long been a creature of habit, chasing successful formulas with relentless imitation. The slasher wave that followed ‘Halloween‘ in 1978. The glut of hitman flicks sparked by ‘John Wick.’ Yet when ‘Top Gun: Maverick‘ soared in 2022 — a film Steven Spielberg credited with saving the theatrical experience — Tinseltown didn’t rush to replicate its patriotic appeal.
That may be about to change if the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger goes through, and the key driver is David Ellison, the tech heir turned producer who has quietly become one of Hollywood’s most intriguing power players.
The Ellison Factor
David Ellison, son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison, brings a distinctly different pedigree to the studio lot. The father-son duo’s ties to the Trump orbit have already set them apart from the usual crop of studio chiefs — a departure from the boardrooms stuffed with Obama administration alums that have long defined the entertainment industry’s upper echelons.
But Ellison’s divergence runs deeper than politics. He’s a pop culture enthusiast who bet big on content with heartland resonance. He co-produced ‘Top Gun: Maverick‘ and has championed its upcoming third installment, along with a sequel to the 1990 NASCAR drama ‘Days of Thunder.’
That’s no accident. Ellison reportedly recognized the strong middle-American appeal of Tom Cruise’s racing drama at a time when the rest of Hollywood showed little interest in reviving it as a franchise. And he’s made things happen fast — Oscar-winner Anne Hathaway is now attached to the ‘Days of Thunder‘ sequel.
A Mega-Studio With Cultural Heft
If the merger closes, Paramount’s already substantial legacy would combine with Warner Bros. Discovery’s deep bench of intellectual property — ‘Harry Potter,’ DC Comics, ‘Game of Thrones,’ ‘Looney Tunes.’ The resulting entity would stand shoulder-to-shoulder with any rival. That’s not just corporate scale; it’s cultural power, and the Ellisons appear willing to wield it.
Their latest move is ‘Mayday,’ an Apple TV+ original produced by David Ellison. The film stars Ryan Reynolds as a Maverick-style Navy pilot shot down over Russia in 1987, during the twilight of the Cold War. Kenneth Branagh plays Nik, a former KGB agent who has fallen in love with American culture — a character who pines for a McDonald’s burger, imagining it tastes like the U.S.A. itself.
Despite Reynolds’s own apparent lack of appreciation for the Reagan era — he’s made some dismissive comments on the red carpet—the film is a full-throated love letter to the 1980s, down to its ‘Born in the USA‘ needle drops. It doesn’t shy from an anti-communist stance. Reynolds’s character delivers a line that would make many a coastal critic choke: communism, he says, ‘flies in the face of human nature.’
An Elixir for Success—With Obstacles
Ellison’s strategy, at least on the surface, seems simple: make movies that appeal to red-state audiences, offering an alternative to the increasingly left-leaning output of his competitors. ‘Top Gun: Maverick‘ proved the appetite is there, grossing nearly $1.5 billion worldwide. If Paramount can consistently deliver content that resonates with viewers Hollywood has long ignored, the payoff could be enormous.
But the path is fraught. The merger already faces concerted opposition, including from California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who has raised antitrust concerns that could ultimately scuttle the deal. Critics and legacy media may be hostile to any center-right or patriotic content, potentially dismissing it out of hand or framing the super-studio’s output negatively.
There’s also the question of the talent. Even when actors sign on, they may bristle—as Reynolds did with his anti-1980s press tour spin, despite being one of Hollywood’s savviest marketers. Others may reject roles in American-friendly stories or subtly undermine them in interviews, long after the checks have cleared.
A Playbook Borrowed from TV and Faith Films
Still, there’s precedent for this kind of counter-programming succeeding. When Hollywood turned its back on faith-friendly films, independent studios stepped in with spiritual content, and their titles consistently overperformed. Now major streaming players like Netflix and Prime Video are investing in faith-based shows like ‘House of David‘ and ‘Ruth and Boaz.’
TV showrunner Taylor Sheridan has built a career by zigging while Hollywood zagged, creating center-right hits like ‘Yellowstone‘ and ‘Landman‘ that offer viewers a respite from left-leaning programming. The Ellisons could attempt the same at the theatrical level.
Call it the Fox News strategy: when every news outlet leans left, there’s a market for an alternative. David Ellison isn’t cranking out hard-right manifestos on immigration or climate change. He’s a storyteller, and he’s betting that some vibrant stories simply aren’t being told.
The feverish attacks on the merger may, in part, stem from a recognition that the Ellisons are serious about bringing something new to Hollywood. Whether they can overcome the industry’s institutional resistance remains to be seen. But if ‘Top Gun: Maverick‘ is any indication, the red-state playbook could be the one formula worth copying.
Source: www.dailywire.com — https://www.dailywire.com/news/hollywoods-new-playbook-for-the-red-states