Eye On Film Jan. 11 - Jan. 17

EYE ON FILM
Jan 11-Jan 17

Exec/Studio Shuffle:

Paramount Pictures – Gail Berman stepped down as president and Allison Shearmur will also step down as co-president of production as chairman and CEO Brad Grey restructures the studio into four labels:  DreamWorks, headed by co-chairman Stacey Snider; MTV Films/Nickelodeon Movies, led by president Scott Aversano; Paramount Pictures, run by president of production Brad Weston; and Paramount Vantage, headed by president John Lesher.

DreamWorks – marketing head Terry Press is stepping down to form her own, as-yet-unnamed marketing company.

Sony Pictures – Adrian Alperovich named senior executive vp and general manager of acquisitions; Lara Thompson named senior vp acquisitions; Scott Shooman upped to executive director of acquisitions; Lia Buman named director of acquisitions; Fritz Friedman to manage the publicity and corporate communication for acquisitions team.

DreamWorks – Sony’s Christine Birch to serve as president of marketing.

New Movies:

“Mamma Mia!” – Universal Pictures; Playtone; Phyllida Lloyd in negotiations to make feature directorial debut; Meryl Streep set to star.

“Synecdoche, New York” – Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, William Horbert; Likely Story, Anthony Bregman; directorial debut of Charlie Kaufman; Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Michelle Williams, Samantha Morton and Tilda Swinton in negotiations to star.

“Special Topics in Calamity Physics” – Miramax Films, Scott Rudin; novel hit bestseller lists last summer.

“The Equalizer” – Weinstein Co., Mace Neufeld, Tony Eldridge and Michael Sloan; signed on Michael Connelly and Terrill Lee Lankford to pen the screenplay; dir. by Paul McGuigan; no cast has been attached yet.

“Pink Panther 2” – Columbia Pictures; Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel to rewrite the next installment; no director is attached yet; Steve Martin to return as Inspector Clouseau.

“Another Bullshit Night in Suck City” – Fox 2000; Depth of Field, Paul Weitz; dir. by Weitz.

“Edwin A. Salt” – Columbia Pictures, Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Sunil Perkash; no dir. or cast attached yet.

“Iron Man” – Paramount Pictures; Marvel Entertainment; dir. by Jon Favreau; Gwyneth Paltrow has joined the cast which already includes Robert Downey, Jr. as Iron Man and Terrence Howard.

“Get Smart” – Warner Bros.; Village Roadshow Pictures; dir. by Peter Segal; Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Terence Stamp to join cast.