LOS ANGELES — When Paramount executives met with Nicole Kidman and Elle Fanning over Zoom in September about a sexy new legal thriller the actresses are producing with A24, they made a passionate case for why the project should land at their studio.

Executives told the A-listers that the show, titled “Discretion,” could help entice a new, more female-driven audience to Paramount+, according to multiple sources who were at the meeting. Their pitch — along with a bid that beat out six other studios — worked.

Within days, the deal was done, making “Discretion” the latest among dozens of agreements the David Ellison-owned studio has closed since the $8 billion merger between Skydance and Paramount Global was completed in August.

Executives at the studio have been making a bullish pitch to

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