Sony Extends Colorful Movie Chairman’s Reign, Citing Turnaround
Image
Sony Pictures Entertainment confirmed that it had signed Thomas Rothman, the chairman of its Motion Picture Group, to a new multiyear contract.CreditCreditDan Steinberg/Invision for Sony Pictures, via Associated Press Images
By
Brooks Barnes
LOS ANGELES — He’s going to be fired any minute. So insisted Hollywood gossipmongers for much of last year about Thomas E. Rothman, the larger-than-life chairman of Sony’s Motion Picture Group.
How times have changed.
Sony Pictures Entertainment has signed Mr. Rothman, 63, to a new multiyear contract that will keep him running the company’s movie divisions, which include Columbia Pictures and TriStar, into the next decade. The renewal was not announced by the studio, but word of the new contract spread and was confirmed by Sony on Thursday.
“The team is really hitting its stride under Tom’s leadership and guidance, and we look forward to further progress and success in the years to come,”
Tony Vinciquerra, chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, said in a statement.
When Mr. Rothman took over the company’s movie division in 2015, many in Hollywood did not see much of a future for Sony in the film business. The studio was reeling from years of losses and a devastating
cyberattack. The entire industry had shifted toward all-audience “tent pole” films, and Sony, which was bereft of franchises, seemed incapable of delivering them on a consistent basis, if at all.
Subscribe to The Times
Even so, Sony appears poised for further success. A “Jumanji” sequel has been scheduled for next year, when Sony will also deliver the follow-up to “
Spider-Man: Homecoming” and try to reboot the studio’s “Men in Black” and “Charlie’s Angels” franchises. Next summer, Sony will also release Quentin Tarantino’s much-anticipated “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” which is set in 1969 and stars Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio.
In the coming weeks, Sony will roll out “Venom,” a dark superhero movie, and the animated “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.” Both are stirring substantial advance interest from ticket buyers, according to box office analysts.
“We feel pretty great about how far we have come, but know that there is still more to do,” Mr. Rothman said in a statement. He thanked Mr. Vinciquerra and “Yoshida-san,” referring to Kenichiro Yoshida, chief executive of Sony Corporation, and added, “This job is a privilege.”