Ryan Reynolds Faces Triple Paramount Cancellation as Blake Lively Headlines Swirl

Paramount just iced three Ryan Reynolds projects in a row, and no, it is not because they forgot he prints money. The short version: with Blake Lively's lawsuit hanging over everything, the studio decided now is not the time to gamble on anything with Reynolds' name on it.

The why: risk, not a creative crisis

Journalist Kjersti Flaa says this is not a sudden loss of faith in Reynolds' star power or some sweeping creative purge. It is risk management. Her read is pretty simple: the Blake Lively case could still go to trial, which means discovery, possible testimony, private texts, relationship questions, and a fresh cycle of headlines. Studios hate uncertainty, and Reynolds has become a short-term question mark.

"In Hollywood, money talks."

Flaa also points out this is not just about Paramount's corporate shuffle. Yes, there is a merger with Skydance. Yes, leadership is repositioning the slate. But all three of these Reynolds projects getting clipped at once suggests a different kind of calculation: wait and see what the legal fallout is before you spend real money.

The deal that makes this extra awkward

Reynolds' company Maximum Effort has a first-look pact with Paramount. That means every project he develops goes to Paramount first. The studio renewed that deal in early 2024, shortly after Lively filed her lawsuit, and it runs through December 2026. Even with that fresh commitment in place, Paramount still stepped back from three Reynolds-linked titles. That is... notable.

What got dropped or moved

• Victor and Sam's Day Off – The Ferris Bueller's Day Off spin-off The Hollywood Reporter wrote about back in 2022. It would have followed the two valets who take the Ferrari for a joyride. Reynolds was attached to produce and star. Paramount killed it.
• Area 51 – An untitled sci-fi thriller set around the infamous base, produced by Reynolds through Maximum Effort and directed by Colin Trevorrow. It is unclear if Reynolds was going to star. Paramount pulled the plug.
• Eloise – An adaptation of Kay Thompson's classic children's books. Reynolds was closely involved as a producer and planned to star. Paramount offloaded it to Netflix.

How the new Paramount factors in

Under David Ellison, the studio is gravitating toward safer franchise bets like Transformers and Star Trek. That is the strategic layer. Add a reputational storm cloud over your would-be marquee producer/star, and suddenly anything pricey or PR-sensitive looks like a headache. The timing speaks for itself.

The industry read, in plain English

Flaa puts it bluntly: Reynolds' name has taken a beating online since the lawsuit surfaced, and we do not know what else could spill out if this heads to trial. When that uncertainty is attached to a very famous person who also happens to be producing and fronting projects, financiers get cold feet. It is not moral panic. It is math.

Reynolds and Lively, professionally

Away from Paramount, there is a quieter reset happening. With Blake Lively's legal fight with Justin Baldoni ongoing, multiple insiders say Reynolds and Lively are keeping their careers separate for now to sidestep extra scrutiny. Reynolds did not attend the Another Simple Favor premiere at SXSW, and his team told the Daily Mail the event went great and that plenty of actors go to premieres without their spouses. Still, one Daily Mail source claimed the couple has realized that working on the same projects right now just invites a magnifying glass.

Communications advisor Alexandra LaManna told Fox News that if the case spirals, it could chip away at Reynolds' squeaky-clean image. He has also skipped a few high-profile moments after catching flak over his SNL 50 appearance, which only fuels the narrative that he is lying low until the dust settles. One insider said Reynolds has been worried the legal situation could spill over onto his slate, noting Maximum Effort still has plenty in the pipeline.

Bottom line

Short term, studios see Reynolds as a financial risk they do not have to take. Long term, no one is saying he is done. If the legal drama cools off, the phones will ring again. But for now, Paramount made the conservative play and hit pause on three projects that were supposed to be part of his ongoing run there. It is unromantic, but it tracks.