How Paramount’s Star-Studded Mini Movie Came Together in Just 7 Weeks

The Blue Sky Tank that rises above soundstages on the Paramount lot, capable of holding 950,000 gallons of water and used for iconic films like The Ten Commandments and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, had been sitting idle for years—it’s used mostly as a parking lot these days. But a few weeks ago, at midnight, the tank was brought back to life, filled with water, and used to shoot a wild pirate-ship scene directed by James Cameron.

This wasn’t for Cameron’s latest blockbuster. The scene (in which Cameron stars) was just a small slice of an ambitious short film that Paramount was putting together in secret for its CinemaCon presentation just a few weeks away.

Cameron's appearance as a director in the short.

Justin Lubin

CinemaCon is the annual Las Vegas convention where the movie studios present their upcoming projects to thousands of theater owners, industry professionals, and members of the press. Usually, a studio trots out some of its biggest stars and clips from upcoming films to gin up excitement for the coming year.

But Paramount decided to do something different for its April 16 presentation, as the stakes were particularly high: This would be the first presentation since David Ellison took over the studio and put his new leadership in place, and it was also happening as conversation swirled around Paramount’s $111 billion bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery. (During the presentation, Ellison addressed concerns about the merger, promising to release at least 30 theatrical movies per year if the studios merged.)

Chu with Cruise on set.

Kevin Garrison

Paramount executives knew they needed to dazzle the audience from the very first moment. “There’s always self-imposed pressure, but we wanted to make it clear that Paramount is back, bigger and hungrier and better than ever,” Paramount Pictures co-chair Josh Greenstein tells Vanity Fair. “That reel was to help us kick the show off and to align everybody on our vision, which is, we want to be in business with the biggest, best, and most talented filmmakers and actors and actresses in the world.”

Jon M. Chu’s short features more than 30 big stars and filmmakers, with scenes set around the Paramount lot, from the water tank and the theater to the dining hall and the iconic Paramount gate. The video not only teases the studio’s upcoming films and highlights the talent who have signed deals, but also reflects on the Paramount lot’s 100th anniversary.

Parker Finn, the director of Possession, with stars Margaret Qualley and Callum Turner.

Justin Lubin

But this big idea would have to be completed in only seven weeks. To pull it off, Paramount Pictures co-chairs Greenstein and Dana Goldberg enlisted Chu, who went to film school at USC with Ellison and signed a deal with the studio in December. Chu says Ellison’s pitch to get him to join Paramount “was all about the soul of a new studio and what we want to see in the future of this business and the opportunity that is here.… He loves movies so much. I know his heart. I think we are all there because of the spirit of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reinvent a studio.”

The Wicked director came in with an ambitious plan that involved a dozen different settings, stunts, stars, an ostrich, a camel, and, yes, a scene at the water tank. He brought on a number of his past collaborators, including cinematographer Alice Brooks and Crazy Rich Asians production designer Nelson Coates. “I was like, ‘I’m very inspired by this idea, but I’m going to throw you a bunch of things that I want to do, and I don’t want anyone in my way,’” Chu says of speaking to Goldberg and Greenstein. “‘I want to do all the things I’ve never been able to do that I’ve always dreamed about on this lot.’”

Chris Pratt, Will Smith, Damson Idris, Isabel May, Molly Ringwald, James Wan, Miles Teller, and Chu.

Justin Lubin

Chu directs Damson Idris and Isabel May in the dining room (with Miles Teller and Chris Pratt in the background).

Justin Lubin

Here, Vanity Fair debuts exclusive behind the scenes photos from the video, which starts off with a voice-over from Tom Cruise as you watch an audience being dazzled by a movie. On the Paramount lot, a smattering of stars begin to appear: Timothée Chalamet casually walking on the lot; Sherry Lansing in a golf cart with director Gina Prince-Bythewood; the Duffer brothers in the Paramount Theatre with Top Gun: Maverick producer Jerry Bruckheimer; Travis Scott on a golf cart with a bevy of security and cars behind him; Mark Wahlberg and Peter Berg having a friendly chat in the office of Alfred Hitchcock and Francis Ford Coppola.

“I think the reason we were able to get so much talent is the shared belief and desire of the theatrical-moviegoing experience,” Greenstein says. “We’re at an inflection point in the business where everybody feels the necessity and the need to rally around theatrical movies.”

A scene in the executive dining room has so many stars that it’s hard to believe they all filmed at the same time (they did). It features Chu, Molly Ringwald, Miles Teller, Chris Pratt, Damson Idris, Isabel May, Will Smith, and James Wan. Teyana Taylor, whose feature directorial debut, Get Lite, will be released by Paramount, shot her scene (in which she directs a group of dancers that includes her daughter) the day before the Oscars.

Teyana Taylor directs a group of dancers.

Justin Lubin

Goldberg, Sherry Lansing, Gina Prince-Bythewood, and Chu on set.

Stefania Rosini

The video ends with Cruise sitting barefoot atop the water tower. And yes, he really went up there. “When Tom rehearsed, there happened to be a studio tour going on at the same time,” Goldberg says. “And so I’m convinced now that there are people who just believe that Tom Cruise is just always up there during a tour of the Paramount lot.”

If anyone else ever climbs up to the tank, they’ll spot a little reminder that Cruise left behind. Before the shoot, Chu handed Cruise a marker and suggested he sign the top of the tower, which made Cruise’s eyes light up. “It was one of those moments I’ll never forget in Hollywood,” Chu says. “I’ve done a lot of things, but that’s one of, never, never forget.”

A scene early on in the short features an audience watching a movie that highlights the history of the studio and lot.

Justin Lubin

Cameron also took on a special task while on set to film at the Blue Sky Tank. After he wrapped shooting, he was handed a bottle of Champagne. He sliced the top off and christened the water tank again, welcoming in a new era.

There are still many questions ahead about this new era, but just like the video, Chu is full of hope about Ellison and his team’s plans. “I want him to know that the things that he has aligned himself with—making movies—there’s a group here that believes in that as well. There’s a whole city that believes in that,” Chu says. “And if he fulfills his part of the promise, we’ll give him good stuff and the audience will show up for it.”

“People still come up to us today who work on the lot and are just so grateful and excited that the lot is kind of back humming and moving and busy and things are being made,” Paramount Pictures co-chair Josh Greenstein says of filming the reel over five days on the lot. “It was a real shot in the arm for everyone who worked here.”

Justin Lubin