With a number of studios touting straight-to-DVD brands, Paramount is throwing their hat in the ring too with Paramount Famous Productions. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the brand, which just launched over a year ago, has just announced its first titles coming to DVD, the first of which being Without a Paddle: Nature's Calling, a sequel to the 2004 comedy Without a Paddle.

Principal photography has just wrapped on the straight-to-DVD sequel and the studio aims to release the DVD in early 2009. The Paramount Famous Productions will focus strictly on sequels, prequels and remakes of the Paramount library for strictly DVD release.

"The name Paramount Famous Prods. speaks to the studio's rich history and reputation for delivering world-class, memorable entertainment to diverse audiences," said Par Famous president Louis Feola. "We plan to continue building on Paramount's legacy and the strength of Viacom's brands by developing tailor-made entertainment to moviegoers who choose to view our films on today's expanding, nontheatrical distribution platforms such as Blu-ray and VOD."

The label plans to roll out five or six releases a year, starting in 2010, with plans in the works for projects based on such Paramount titles as Road Trip, Bad News Bears, The Naked Gun, Mean Girls and Grease.