Mike Ireland, president of Paramount Motion Picture Group, is exiting the studio amid the pending closure of the Paramount-Skydance deal.
Studio sources tell Variety that Ireland will stay on in a consulting role to help with the transition, and is also considering an offer for a producing deal with the studio.
Ireland joined Paramount in November 2020, and was named co-president of production alongside Daria Cercek in January 2021, before the duo became co-heads of the motion picture group later that year.
In February 2025, Cercek left Paramount to become the president of Disney’s theatrical live-action division.
Ireland and Cercek oversaw a number of the studio’s successful films from development to release, including “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Sonic the Hedgehog 3,” “Gladiator 2,” “Smile 2,” “A Quiet Place: Day One” and “The Lost City.”
Ireland’s departure comes amid significant executive shuffling at the company, as the new owners of Paramount Global have begun putting their leadership team in place in advance of the closing of the Skydance merger on Aug. 7. Tom Ryan, president and CEO of Paramount Streaming, also stepped down this week.
Josh Greenstein is leaving his job as co-president of the Motion Picture Group at Sony to become co-chair of Paramount Pictures, alongside Dana Goldberg, and vice chair of platforms. In addition to becoming co-chair of Paramount Pictures, Goldberg is also chair of Paramount Television.
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David Ellison, the founder of Skydance, will become chairman and CEO of Paramount. Andy Gordon, who leads the West Coast office of RedBird Capital Partners, is set to take the role of chief operating officer and chief strategic officer.
Deadline was first to report the news of Ireland’s departure.
From Variety US