During ViacomCBS’ first-quarter earnings call today, CEO Bob Bakish has announced that director Antoine Fuqua’s long-delayed sci-fi action thriller Infinite is now officially heading to Paramount+ as they dropped their initial U.S. theatrical release plans for the film. Originally slated to arrive in theaters on September 24, the Mark Wahlberg-led feature will now be making its debut this June, exclusively on Paramount+.
In addition, Bakish also revealed their plans to expand the streaming service’s movie content, teasing that upcoming and current subscribers should expect the addition of 1,000 movies to its current movie library. He also confirmed that Paramount is planning to build up its original film content and is hoping that by 2022, they would be able to release one original movie per week.
“Turning to movies where we are poised to dramatically enhance the scale of our offering,” Bakish said (via The Hollywood Reporter). “In fact, we will shortly kick off a ‘Mountain of Movies’ marketing campaign, where we will highlight the thousands of new movies we are adding to Paramount+, including blockbuster hits and exclusive originals.”
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Based on D. Eric Maikranz’s The Reincarnationist Papers novel, Infinite tells the story of a secret group of people who are continuously reincarnated century-after-century to battle an evil madman bent on world destruction. It will center around Evan McCauley, a guy haunted daily by skills he has never learned and the memories of places he’s never visited. Self-medicated and on the brink of a mental breakdown, he is rescued by the secret group whose members call themselves “Infinites.” They reveal to him that his memories are real – but they are from multiple past lives.
The Infinites bring Evan into their extraordinary world, where a gifted few are given the ability to be reborn with their memories and knowledge accumulated over centuries. With critical secrets buried in his past, Evan must work with the Infinites to unlock the answers in his memories in a race against time to save humanity from one of their own who seeks to destroy it.
Pick up a copy of the novel here!
The film will be led by Mark Wahlberg (The Fighter) as Evan McCauley, Sophie Cookson (Kingsman: The Secret Service) as Tammy, Dylan O’Brien (Maze Runner trilogy) as Heinrich Treadway, Rupert Friend (Homeland) as Bathurst, Chiwetel Ejiofor (Doctor Strange) as Ted, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson (Alpha) as Kovic, Jason Mantzoukas (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) as Peabody, Tom Hughes (The Game) as Abel, Wallis Day (Krypton) as Shin, Toby Jones (The Girl) as Kent, Liz Carr (The OA) as Garrick and Kae Alexander (Ready Player One).
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Infinite is directed by Antoine Fuqua (The Equalizer 2, Southpaw) from a screenplay adapted by Ian Shorr (Splinter) based on a story by Todd Stein. Lorenzo di Bonaventura (the Transformers franchise) produced alongside Mark Vahradian and John Zaozirny of Bellevue Productions, as well as Wahlberg, Mark Huffman, and Stephen Levinson. Fuqua and Rafi Crohn serve as executive producers.
