Editing Paramount Pictures (section)

===1980–94: Continual success===
Paramount's successful run of pictures extended into the 1980s and 1990s, generating hits like ''[[Airplane!]]'', ''[[American Gigolo]]'', ''[[Ordinary People]]'', ''[[An Officer and a Gentleman]]'', ''[[Flashdance]]'', ''[[Terms of Endearment]]'', ''[[Footloose (1984 film)|Footloose]]'', ''[[Pretty in Pink]]'', ''[[Top Gun]]'', ''[[Crocodile Dundee]]'', ''[[Fatal Attraction]]'', ''[[Ghost (1990 film)|Ghost]]'', the ''[[Friday the 13th (1980 film)|Friday the 13th]]'' [[slasher film|slasher]] series, as well as joining forces with [[Lucasfilm]] and [[Steven Spielberg]] to create the ''[[Indiana Jones]]'' franchise. Other examples are the ''[[Star Trek]]'' film series and a string of films starring comedian [[Eddie Murphy]] like ''[[Trading Places]]'', ''[[Coming to America]]'' and ''[[Beverly Hills Cop]]'' and its [[sequel]]s. While the emphasis was decidedly on the commercial, there were occasional less commercial but more artistic and intellectual efforts like ''[[I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can]]'', ''[[Atlantic City (1980 film)|Atlantic City]]'', ''[[Reds (film)|Reds]]'', ''[[Witness (1985 film)|Witness]]'', ''[[Children of a Lesser God (film)|Children of a Lesser God]]'' and ''[[The Accused (1988 film)|The Accused]]''. During this period, responsibility for running the studio passed from Eisner and Katzenberg to [[Frank Mancuso, Sr.]] (1984) and [[Ned Tanen]] (1984) to [[Stanley R. Jaffe]] (1991) and [[Sherry Lansing]] (1992). More so than most, Paramount's slate of films included many remakes and television [[Spin-off (media)|spin-offs]]; while sometimes commercially successful, there have been few compelling films of the kind that once made Paramount the industry leader.

Around the end of 1981, Paramount Pictures took over fellow Gulf and Western subsidiary [[Sega]] from the company's manufacturing division in an effort to get into the video game business. Paramount would go on to sell Sega following the [[Video Game Crash of 1983]], and the two companies would later work together on the live action/CGI ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (film series)|Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' film series.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Harmetz |first1=Aljean |date=July 1, 1982 |title=VIDEO GAMES GO TO HOLLYWOOD |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/01/business/video-games-to-to-hollywood.html |access-date=August 30, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

On August 25, 1983, Paramount Studios caught fire. Two or three sound stages and four outdoor sets were destroyed.<ref>{{cite news |title=Fire destroys sets, stages at Paramount |date=August 26, 1983 |page=18 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9S8aAAAAIBAJ&dq=paramount%20fire%20cheers%20star-trek&pg=6670%2C8783024 |newspaper=[[Times-News (Hendersonville, North Carolina)|Times-News]] |location=Hendersonville, North Carolina |access-date=August 17, 2012 |agency=[[Associated Press]] |author=John Antczak |archive-date=January 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210104041944/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9S8aAAAAIBAJ&dq=paramount%20fire%20cheers%20star-trek&pg=6670%2C8783024 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Fire destroys Paramount sound stages |date=August 26, 1983 |page=8 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CJszAAAAIBAJ&dq=paramount%20studios%20fire%20cheers%20star-trek&pg=3449%2C6550609 |agency=[[United Press International]] |newspaper=[[Lodi News-Sentinel]] |location=Lodi, California |access-date=August 17, 2012 |archive-date=March 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309155659/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CJszAAAAIBAJ&dq=paramount+studios+fire+cheers+star-trek&pg=3449%2C6550609 |url-status=live }}</ref>

When Charles Bluhdorn died unexpectedly, his successor Martin Davis dumped all of Gulf and Western's industrial, mining, and sugar-growing subsidiaries and refocused the company, renaming it Paramount Communications in 1989. With the influx of cash from the sale of Gulf and Western's industrial properties in the mid-1980s, Paramount bought a string of television stations and [[KECO Entertainment]]'s theme park operations, renaming them [[Paramount Parks]]. These parks included [[California's Great America|Paramount's Great America]], [[Canada's Wonderland|Paramount Canada's Wonderland]], [[Carowinds|Paramount's Carowinds]], [[Kings Dominion|Paramount's Kings Dominion]], and [[Kings Island|Paramount's Kings Island]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.visitkingsisland.com/media-center/park-history |title=Park History &#124; Kings Island, Mason OH |publisher=Visitkingsisland.com |access-date=August 8, 2015 |archive-date=September 5, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905170551/https://www.visitkingsisland.com/media-center/park-history |url-status=live }}</ref>

In May 1985, Paramount decided to start its own talent department, an attempt to form a stable of exclusively-contracted film personnel (outside of [[Eddie Murphy]]); this effort proved unsuccessful and studio president [[Dawn Steel]] decided to shut down the department on July 30, 1986.<ref>{{Cite news|date=August 6, 1986|title=Par Pulling Plug On Pool of Talent|pages=3, 95|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref> In 1987, Paramount Pictures, [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|MGM/UA Communications Co.]] and [[Universal Pictures]] teamed up in order to market feature film and television product to China, a response to the 25-billion admission tickets that were clocked in the country in 1986. Worldwide Media Sales, a division of the New York-based Worldwide Media Group had been placed in charge of the undertaking.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 3, 1987 |title=MGM/UA, Par, Universal Team To Market U.S. Products In China |page=6 |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref> That year, Paramount Pictures decided to consolidate its distribution operations, closing a number of branch offices that were designed for the studio and relocating staff and major activities in an effort to cut costs and provide for a more efficient centralization; this decision was made in response to a change in distribution practices that had occurred among the various major studios.<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 22, 1987 |title=Paramount Is Closing Branches As Part Of Distrib Consolidation |pages=4, 34 |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref> In August 1987, Paramount Overseas Productions declared that the subsidiary would be in service not just for the upcoming film ''Experts'', which was shot on a budget of $12 million in [[Canada]], but also for other films filmed there worldwide, including the [[United Kingdom]] and [[Canada]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 12, 1987 |title=Paramount POP Subsid Not Just For 'Experts' |page=26 |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref>

In 1993, [[Sumner Redstone]]'s entertainment conglomerate [[Viacom (1952–2006)|Viacom]] made a bid for a merger with Paramount Communications; this quickly escalated into a bidding war with [[Barry Diller]]'s [[QVC]]. But Viacom prevailed, ultimately paying $10&nbsp;billion for the Paramount holdings. Viacom and Paramount had planned to merge as early as 1989.<ref name="Delugach">{{cite news |last=Delugach |first=Al |title=Viacom, Gulf & Western Discuss Merger |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-05-06-fi-2144-story.html |access-date=May 30, 2012 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=May 6, 1989 |archive-date=October 15, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015133536/http://articles.latimes.com/1989-05-06/business/fi-2144_1_five-television-and-eight-western-deal-sumner-m-redstone |url-status=live }}</ref>

Paramount is the last major film studio located in Hollywood proper. When Paramount moved to its present home in 1927, it was in the heart of the film community. Since then, former next-door neighbor [[RKO Pictures|RKO]] closed up shop in 1957 (Paramount ultimately absorbed their former lot); [[Warner Bros.]] (whose old Sunset Boulevard studio was sold to Paramount in 1949 as a home for [[KTLA]]) moved to [[Burbank, Los Angeles County, California|Burbank]] in 1930; [[Columbia Pictures|Columbia]] joined Warners in Burbank in 1973 then moved again to [[Culver City, California|Culver City]] in 1989; and the Pickford-Fairbanks-Goldwyn-United Artists lot, after a lively history, has been turned into a [[post-production]] and music-scoring facility for Warners, known simply as "The Lot". For a time the semi-industrial neighborhood around Paramount was in decline, but has now come back. The recently refurbished studio has come to symbolize Hollywood for many visitors, and its studio tour is a popular attraction.