April 20, 2005
Longtime Producer at Paramount Plans to Join Disney
By LAURA M. HOLSON
LOS ANGELES, April 19 - Scott Rudin, a veteran producer whose films last year ranged from a failed remake of "The Stepford Wives" to a well-received adaptation of Broadway's "Closer," said Tuesday that he would end his long-standing deal with Paramount Pictures and begin making movies for Walt Disney Studios when his contract expires in 2006.
Mr. Rudin is the first major producer to leave Paramount since the former talent manager Brad Grey joined the company as chief executive last month in a management shake-up. It has been widely expected that Mr. Rudin would leave the studio, where his 15-year tenure was rooted in a close relationship with the departing Paramount chairwoman, Sherry Lansing.
In agreeing to make movies for Walt Disney, Mr. Rudin said he hoped to channel projects to all of the company's divisions, and particularly to Miramax Films, whose founders, Harvey and Bob Weinstein, are leaving Disney and starting their own multimedia company. Miramax and Mr. Rudin are based in New York, but the producer will not have an executive position with Miramax, both he and Disney said.
As the Weinsteins depart, Mr. Rudin is likely to fill a gap by providing the sort of high-quality, off-beat, awards-quality art films that Disney has struggled to create on its own. While no stranger to commercial bets like "The School of Rock," Mr. Rudin is known for adapting novels and plays into more sophisticated fare like "Closer" and "The Hours." Last year, not one of his best, was marked by disappointments that included "The Stepford Wives" and "The Manchurian Candidate," both made for Paramount.
Reached in London, where he was attending a premiere for "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," the Disney studios chairman, Richard Cook, cautioned that Disney's anticipated deal with Mr. Rudin was not complete. "We don't expect hitches but it is not done," he said.
Mr. Rudin said that a clause in his Paramount contract allowed him to move projects to another studio. A Paramount representative would not comment on the assertion, but the studio said in a statement that it had been informed of Mr. Rudin's intention to leave.
Paramount executives - who asked not to be identified for fear of disrupting continuing relations with Mr. Rudin - said they spent Tuesday reviewing his contract. The deal was first reported in The Los Angeles Times on Tuesday.
Yet to be resolved are whether Mr. Rudin will leave Paramount earlier than 2006 and whether he will get the hefty payouts the studio afforded him, including 7.5 percent of the company's receipts from the box office for his films. Disney has complained in the past, particularly regarding the Weinsteins, about movie deals that have enriched producers at the expense of the studio. Mr. Rudin would not discuss the terms except to say Disney was "close" to paying him what he got at Paramount, which is a unit of Viacom.
Looking back on his years at Paramount, Mr. Rudin described the experience as uneven. "Paramount has been a moving target," he said. "That has been a hard thing for producer."
Mr. Rudin said he met recently with Mr. Grey and told him he didn't plan to stay at Paramount once his contract ended. "This was my decision, not Brad's," he said. But two Paramount executives, who declined to be named, said Mr. Rudin did not discuss his departure directly with Mr. Grey.
The executives said Mr. Grey had not yet decided whether he wanted to keep Mr. Rudin at Paramount. The studio learned of the intended departure from Mr. Rudin's lawyer on Monday, the executives said.
With Mr. Rudin, Disney is adding one of the film industry's more temperamental personalities to its roster, even as it loses two others with the departure of the Weinsteins.
"I hope there is some friction," said Mr. Cook. "It means something is getting done." Mr. Rudin conceded that he was indeed tempestuous at times. "Do I fight for the movies? Yeah," he said. "Do I circumvent the process? Yeah." But he added, "I want what is best for the movies."
Longtime Producer at Paramount Plans to Join Disney
By LAURA M. HOLSON
LOS ANGELES, April 19 - Scott Rudin, a veteran producer whose films last year ranged from a failed remake of "The Stepford Wives" to a well-received adaptation of Broadway's "Closer," said Tuesday that he would end his long-standing deal with Paramount Pictures and begin making movies for Walt Disney Studios when his contract expires in 2006.
Mr. Rudin is the first major producer to leave Paramount since the former talent manager Brad Grey joined the company as chief executive last month in a management shake-up. It has been widely expected that Mr. Rudin would leave the studio, where his 15-year tenure was rooted in a close relationship with the departing Paramount chairwoman, Sherry Lansing.
In agreeing to make movies for Walt Disney, Mr. Rudin said he hoped to channel projects to all of the company's divisions, and particularly to Miramax Films, whose founders, Harvey and Bob Weinstein, are leaving Disney and starting their own multimedia company. Miramax and Mr. Rudin are based in New York, but the producer will not have an executive position with Miramax, both he and Disney said.
As the Weinsteins depart, Mr. Rudin is likely to fill a gap by providing the sort of high-quality, off-beat, awards-quality art films that Disney has struggled to create on its own. While no stranger to commercial bets like "The School of Rock," Mr. Rudin is known for adapting novels and plays into more sophisticated fare like "Closer" and "The Hours." Last year, not one of his best, was marked by disappointments that included "The Stepford Wives" and "The Manchurian Candidate," both made for Paramount.
Reached in London, where he was attending a premiere for "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," the Disney studios chairman, Richard Cook, cautioned that Disney's anticipated deal with Mr. Rudin was not complete. "We don't expect hitches but it is not done," he said.
Mr. Rudin said that a clause in his Paramount contract allowed him to move projects to another studio. A Paramount representative would not comment on the assertion, but the studio said in a statement that it had been informed of Mr. Rudin's intention to leave.
Paramount executives - who asked not to be identified for fear of disrupting continuing relations with Mr. Rudin - said they spent Tuesday reviewing his contract. The deal was first reported in The Los Angeles Times on Tuesday.
Yet to be resolved are whether Mr. Rudin will leave Paramount earlier than 2006 and whether he will get the hefty payouts the studio afforded him, including 7.5 percent of the company's receipts from the box office for his films. Disney has complained in the past, particularly regarding the Weinsteins, about movie deals that have enriched producers at the expense of the studio. Mr. Rudin would not discuss the terms except to say Disney was "close" to paying him what he got at Paramount, which is a unit of Viacom.
Looking back on his years at Paramount, Mr. Rudin described the experience as uneven. "Paramount has been a moving target," he said. "That has been a hard thing for producer."
Mr. Rudin said he met recently with Mr. Grey and told him he didn't plan to stay at Paramount once his contract ended. "This was my decision, not Brad's," he said. But two Paramount executives, who declined to be named, said Mr. Rudin did not discuss his departure directly with Mr. Grey.
The executives said Mr. Grey had not yet decided whether he wanted to keep Mr. Rudin at Paramount. The studio learned of the intended departure from Mr. Rudin's lawyer on Monday, the executives said.
With Mr. Rudin, Disney is adding one of the film industry's more temperamental personalities to its roster, even as it loses two others with the departure of the Weinsteins.
"I hope there is some friction," said Mr. Cook. "It means something is getting done." Mr. Rudin conceded that he was indeed tempestuous at times. "Do I fight for the movies? Yeah," he said. "Do I circumvent the process? Yeah." But he added, "I want what is best for the movies."