ViacomCBS is stepping up its streaming game by releasing Infinite exclusively on Paramount+. Antoine Fuqua’s blockbuster sci-fi movie starring Mark Wahlberg had been previously delayed because of the pandemic, but now the only way to watch will be by signing up for a Paramount+ subscription.
So far, Paramount has held its main releases for theaters, even if major blockbusters like A Quiet Place Part II and Mission Impossible 7 have been promised to debut on Paramount+ 45 days after their premiere, instead of the usual exclusive three months studios give theaters. With Infinite going exclusively to Paramount+, though, ViacomCBS shows it intends to fight for its slice of the streaming market by following the steps of companies such as Disney and Warner Bros., both of whom are releasing big-budget films respectively on Disney+ and HBO Max.
If the move proves successful, it seems there will be more films from Paramount that are destined to head straight into streaming, or maybe earn a mixed release strategy, making movies available both at theaters and Paramount+ at the same time. As revealed in a conference call for investors, Paramount+ intends to add one thousand movies to its library in early June, with another 1.5 thousand movies added until the end of July. ViacomCBS’s plans for Paramount+ also include the release of a new exclusive movie per week, beginning in 2022.
In Infinite, Wahlberg plays Evan McCauley, a man haunted by hallucinations and memories from places he never visited. Evan’s beliefs that he suffers from some mental sickness are shattered when he encounters a group self-called "infinites," people capable of remembering past lives and willing to use their past knowledge to stop an infinite who poses a threat to all humanity.
The Infinite cast includes Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sophie Cookson, Jason Mantzoukas, Rupert Friend, Toby Jones and Dylan O’Brien. Fuqua directs from a script by John Lee Hancock and Ian Shorr, based on the novel The Reincarnationist Papers by D. Eric Maikranz.
Infinite will be available this June, exclusively on Paramount+.