Homecoming Tom Rothman Becomes New Sony Honcho

[Slushy]

This is really bizarre news to me: Tom Rothman has been named the head of Sony Motion Pictures Group, stepping over inhouse candidates Doug Belgrad and Steve Mosko. This comes as Amy Pascal steps down/was fired after the events of the hack, and just a week after Marvel announced they were working with Sony to bring Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Rothman used to run Fox during one of the great studio's low periods. He was cheap, so the movies often made money, but Fox was turning out absolute **** during his tenure. What's more, Rothman hates superhero movies, and he personally blocked a Deadpool film and refused to allow Sentinels to be used in an X-Men film. Like, he said in a meeting 'no giant robots.' Rothman became famous among nerds for micromanaging X-Men Origins: Wolverine to the point where he demanded sets be repainted without telling director Gavin Hood. It's pretty likely that the Marvel/Fox split (which is so ugly I can't even tell you - the two companies literally trolled each other in the media, which is what led to that Galactus being swapped for Daredevil story at one point) has a lot to do with Rothman.

And now he's running Sony. He'll likely bring his tight purse strings to a studio that needs to stop bleeding cash, but what else will happen? Sony, for all of its other problems, has been trying some fun stuff, stuff I can't see happening under Rothman. Will that 21 Jump Street/Men in Black crossover just go away now? And what's going to happen to Spider-Man? Last week I was pondering what exactly the Marvel/Sony deal looked like - what was written in stone, what kind of time frame Marvel has to work with Spidey, stuff like that - and it was because whoever followed Pascal in Sony's driver's seat was a wild card. Would they be into what Marvel was doing, or would they want to squash it?

I feel like Tom Rothman could become the JJJ to Marvel's Spider-Man.

We'll see what happens. I don't feel like this is great news for anybody who likes movies, to say the least. I really thought Rothman was done, that his eon had passed and he was moving on. Guess not. And to all the Sony publicists who will have to deal with Rothman's ire in the coming months and years: sorry, especially for when he gets mad about stuff we run here.

From Robert Lielfeld's Twitter:

Tom Rothman single handedly kept Deadpool from getting made at Fox. Not a fan. Scratches Sony off the list....

Rothman was shown the door years back, the improved quality of X-Men films is a result of his absence.

There was a period in the mid 2000's where the trades did stories on how cheap Fox was & how they had no director relationships

I am worried for Spider-Man, guys, given Rothman's track record.

 

[LizardMan07]

I'm finding it hard to find any postives about this

Could possibly kill the MCU Spidey before it even begins

 

[Knight_SV]

Sony is stupid for named him their chairman then. If the spiderman 2017 movie turn out bad because he refuse ideas from Kevin Feige, then Sony has screwed up Marvel and the fans

 

[R_Hythlodeus]

It's the decision I expected from Sony

 

[Boom]

Look at Sony Pictures' profits over the years, and look at what Rothman was able to do for Fox during his tenure. This isn't surprising in the least. The man is artistically bankrupt, but he can turn a profit.

We'll see.

 

[Slushy]

Other accusations:

Not waiting for Bryan Singer to finish working on "Superman Returns", and not having a replacement director until I believe weeks before filming was due to start.

Not waiting for several actors (e.g. James Marsden, Rebecca Romjin, and Anna Paquin) to take care of prior engagements before filming. In the process, certain characters were "killed off" as a matter of convenience.

Didn't want Sentinels (the gigantic, mutant hunting robots) appearing in an X-Men film because he believed that audiences would immediately think that giant robots appearing in live-action would be too "silly". This was of course, before "Transformers" (a movie for which Tom Rothman turned down) came out.

*Having "Daredevil" edited to make it appear more like a summer blockbuster (i.e. more CGI) in the mode of "Spider-Man". "Daredevil" was initially conceived as a more violent, R-rated film based on Frank Miller's run with the comics.

*Not giving the "Fantastic Four" films a better budget and also thought that it would be better for us to see Galactus as a cloud.

 

[Neno_Kos]

Spider-man property is doomed for life. First Avi now Rothman... And Sony offically bankrupt with this move. Good job Sony.

 

[The Infernal]

Not a great move, but Tom Rothman still has bosses too. From we learned from the leaks they were in favour of this deal going through. I still don't see Rothman just trampling over a deal that was set up and publicly announced just prior to his appointment.

 

[Spider2099]

Spider-man property is doomed for life. First Avi now Rothman... And Sony offically bankrupt with this move. Good job Sony.

Don't make such wild predictions. We don't know how much of an impact (if any) Rothman will have on Spider-Man.

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

i may cry

 

[titansupes]

What a pain in the ass decision. Just when we thought we were free and clear...

 

[Dark Raven]

Maybe Rothman will try to exert his influence over Marvel's Daredevil this time round if DD teams with Spider-Man.

If he doesn't like robots and the like, well it's already too late as far as the MCU is concerned. We already have Iron Man, War Machine, Ultron, Vision, Hulkbuster etc. If Spidey occupies that same world, then he'll have to accept the possibility of these things in a Spidey film.

 

[BrollySupersj]

Be careful spidey...

 

[Stormz96]

He shares the chairman position with Michael Lynton, who really wants the deal to go smoothly. His own words:

This is the right decision for the franchise, for our business, for Marvel, and for the fans

And the deal was made under Lynton's authority, so I'd imagine he'd be overseeing the spiderman projects or can overrule Rothman

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

Even if Spider-Man gets out of this okay, I can't see it being a good thing for many of the studio's other films. Rothman's problems with Fox went far beyond just their Marvel films.

 

[Mysteryman]

I expected Rothman to get the deal.
But, I also expected the deal to go on through regardless.
At this point, I remain hopeful.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Sony is cursed.

Raimi must've used an Evil Dead voodoo spell after he got kicked off SM4.

 

[Stormz96]

Guys, Rothman reports to Lynton, the man who wants the deal to go through and says it's best for the company. This from deadline:

Under the new structure, Lynton will continue as Chairman and CEO of SPE. Rothman’s role and oversight will be specific to the Motion Picture Group, and he will report to Lynton. Steve Mosko, president of Sony Pictures Television, will report to Lynton.

 

[R_Hythlodeus]

Guys, Rothman reports to Lynton, the man who wants the deal to go through and says it's best for the company. This from deadline:

In the end it doesn't matter who reports to whom, when Rothman and Feige don't get along

 

[Stormz96]

In the end it doesn't matter who reports to whom, when Rothman and Feige don't get along

When rothman is reporting to the guy who says this:

"We always want to collaborate with the best and most successful filmmakers to grow our franchises and develop our characters. Marvel, Kevin Feige and Amy, who helped orchestrate this deal, are the perfect team to help produce the next chapter of Spider-Man," said Michael Lynton, Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment. "This is the right decision for the franchise, for our business, for Marvel, and for the fans."

I'd imagine that Feige will get his way, in all likelihood. Not saying it's a definite, but it's very likely Rothman will be hands off as his superior wants the deal to work out. Lynton is very into the collaboration going smoothly

 

[Loki882]

This is the guy who almost ran the X-Men films into the ground, and his "questionable" decisions at Fox are legendary.

 

[AF3619]

In the end it doesn't matter who reports to whom, when Rothman and Feige don't get along

i hope Amy Pascal is the one that takes final saying with spidey (i hope so at least)...or is the intermediary with him and Feige so there are no conflicts

 

[mclay18]

That's good, Sony isn't that clueless. I think Lynton and Sony CEO Hirai wanted the deal to go through, and they probably laid down the law with Rothman once he signed his contract.

And let's face it... near the end of his Fox tenure, Rothman was less hands-on and the quality of the movies improved.

 

[Jay Beezy]

At least Rothman will be against Robo Rhino.

 

[R_Hythlodeus]

And let's face it... near the end of his Fox tenure, Rothman was less hands-on and the quality of the movies improved.

Legend has it, that his less hands-on approach was forced on him by a higher power after an online article that questioned the quality of Fox movies