Top Sony Executives Disillusioned With Film Chairman Tom Rothman (EXCLUSIVE)

[TheVileOne]

I think Sony picked Rothman because they were in a big crisis at the time and they needed leadership after Pascal got fired. Rothman was right there. And he had experience running a studio before. I mean, it seems mind-boggling, but I can sort of see it. At least from the warped perspective of Hollywoodland.

 

[dude stannis]

Spider-Man likely being garbage has nothing to do with Rothman.

 

[Loki882]

He also forced through those butchered theatrical versions of Daredevil and Kingdom of Heaven as well. Surprise surprise, the director's cuts ended up being much better. He was also behind the "PG-13-fying" of certain properties, and blocked them from using the Sentinels in the X-Men films for years and years.

 

[dude stannis]

He's the one who axed the Ridley Scott/James Cameron team up Alien 5/6 two parter that would've starred Arnold, Ford and/or Nicolas Cage. I.E. the greatest movie never made.

 

[Greens]

He's the one who axed the Ridley Scott/James Cameron team up Alien 5/6 two parter that would've starred Arnold, Ford and/or Nicolas Cage. I.E. the greatest movie never made.

**** him.

 

[chamber-music]

Marvel is wearing the pants in that partnership.

Yeah. I think Rothman is happy to sit back and let Marvel call the shots on Spider-Man as Marvel's track record is great and Sony is desperate for successful franchises.

Here is what Rothman said about Spider-Man Homecoming

"Here's the thing I can tell you: We're really, really fortunate on this because Marvel and Kevin Feige have really embraced the character, and nobody knows it as well as Marvel," Rothman told IGN. " It is another crown jewel of Sony's for sure."

It's fantastic! But it's also a homecoming to Marvel. And a homecoming to the cinematic universe that Spider-Man belongs in. So it's a pretty unprecedented deal between two studios, but we're really proud of it. And all I can tell you is, those guys at Marvel -- I think the technical term is -- they know their s***."

Rothman would be a fool to try and micro-manage Spider-Man. He wouldn't want to tank the collaboration with Marvel which could be very lucrative.

 

[mclay18]

Rothman also said this, regarding Spider-Man Homecoming:

Who has greenlight authority?
"Sony has the ultimate authority. But we have deferred the creative lead to Marvel, because they know what they’re doing. We start shooting the new Spider-Man in Atlanta [in mid-June]."

Do you want to trim the costs of that franchise?
"I don’t want to trim costs. I want to make money. And sometimes you make money by trimming costs and sometimes by investing in things that are profitable. A movie like Spider-Man by Marvel, that’s not inexpensive. But it’s a great investment. Knowing that Marvel has such a clear, creative vision, I sleep very well at night."

Plus since Marvel Studios runs a tight and money efficient operation, Rothman doesn't need to worry about them cutting costs further.

Rothman also leaves alone his pet filmmakers, like Ang Lee and Danny Boyle. But everyone else he seems to alienate.

 

[marvelrobbins]

well at least X-Men don't have to deal with him anymore.now the MCU has to deal with him.

sony may not even be distrubting james bond films anymore.

failure of ghostbusters says even more spider-man is all sony has.and if anyone is disappointed with Homecoming they can't blame hachrothman since Feige has creative control over film.

 

[MOVIELORD101]

He also forced through those butchered theatrical versions of Daredevil and Kingdom of Heaven as well. Surprise surprise, the director's cuts ended up being much better. He was also behind the "PG-13-fying" of certain properties, and blocked them from using the Sentinels in the X-Men films for years and years.

Him blocking the Sentinels was symptom of an even BIGGER problem: Rothman HATES anything with giant robots. He allegedly even turned down Transformers just because of it. Big mistake, IMO. Fox doing TF would've meant no Michael Bay.

 

[Rowsdower!]

Wait, people are seriously worried about Spider-Man because of this? I'm sure it will be fine. At the very least, we already know that Tom Holland is good in the role, and Marvel is calling all the shots there.

I'm more concerned with what this debacle means for the Dark Tower films. If I remember correctly, that was a franchise that Rothman prioritized when he came on board... but it only has a budget of $60 million. That seems really low for a fantasy epic. Though I suppose it could prove to be a smart move since The Dark Tower likely won't have the appeal of something like LOTR or Harry Potter.

 

[mclay18]

I get why Sony hired Rothman, because he does serve as a check against ballooning budgets. That's the only positive thing about him.

Rothman needs to step back when a film is budgeted and ready to shoot. Keep a tight leash on the budget, but let the directors do their jobs.

 

[chamber-music]

Rothman is good for keeping costs down but he seems like a noose around the neck of filmmakers creatively sometimes.

 

[Jason Kane]

Does anyone know where I can find the whole story on Firefly and Rothman? Couldn't find it in my Google search.

Midnight's Edge brought it up in the video on him relating to the road to Deadpool finally getting made

 

[TheVileOne]

Is it even true?

 

[Loki882]

Don't know. But given the bizarre way that that show was aired, the almost complete lack of decent marketing/promotion for it, and combined with Rothman's other screw-ups, I wouldn't be at all surprised if it was.

 

[Jason Kane]

Don't know. But given the bizarre way that that show was aired, the almost complete lack of decent marketing/promotion for it, and combined with Rothman's other screw-ups, I wouldn't be at all surprised if it was.

And I just realized Dark Angel died during his reign as well (& Rothman fought against Titanic and Avatar all three from James Cameron)

 

[Neno_Kos]

Dark Angel died during his reign? Oh man, and I thought I can't have lower opinion about the guy...

 

[mclay18]

Rothman is good for keeping costs down but he seems like a noose around the neck of filmmakers creatively sometimes.

Yes. His fingerprints are all over X-Men and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and not in a good way.

I fear for how Passengers will turn out, judging by how he first balked at the price tag (he suggested they trim the budget to $90 million, but the director refused) and the two stars' salaries. He ended up greenlighting the film with its original budget and hefty star salaries intact, but who knows if he meddled in the editing room...

 

[LoganGambit87]

He's the one who axed the Ridley Scott/James Cameron team up Alien 5/6 two parter that would've starred Arnold, Ford and/or Nicolas Cage. I.E. the greatest movie never made.

and thanks for that we got alien vs predator franchise instead

 

[MOVIELORD101]

Can we blame him for Simpsons and Family Guy getting grandfathered in? Cause i want to at this rate....

 

[mclay18]

I wish Rothman would be less hands on. He had Gianopoulos rein him in on projects like Cameron's films. Sony needs to find someone similar so that Rothman doesn't drive everyone away.

 

[I Am The Knight]

And I just realized Dark Angel died during his reign as well (& Rothman fought against Titanic and Avatar all three from James Cameron)

That's like constantly turning down The Beatles. How is this guy allowed to run a studio?

 

[-JKR-]

I wish Rothman would be less hands on. He had Gianopoulos rein him in on projects like Cameron's films. Sony needs to find someone similar so that Rothman doesn't drive everyone away.

No. As much as Jim Gianopolous managed to reign him in on projects like Cameron's films, he still couldn't stop him from micromanaging every other mainstream Fox movie.

Tom Rothman sees a strict division between art films and blockbusters, and for him the latter should be as four-quadrant, cost-effective and commercial as possible.

The guys at Sony better lay him off, before things get as bad as they ultimately got at Fox (most blockbusters and wide releases were steaming pile of s**ts, aside from those couple of flicks which managed to get away without him squeezing them to death, and the studio had become a joke).

 

[mclay18]

No. As much as Jim Gianopolous managed to reign him in on projects like Cameron's films, he still couldn't stop him from micromanaging every other mainstream Fox movie.

Which is a pity. I don't think Rothman gets that micromanaging leads to lower morale, frustrated filmmakers, and more stress than needed on a film set. Why he continues to lowball talent, question the star power of Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt, and simply not trusting filmmakers is beyond me. Offer input on the budget, script, and rough cuts like any studio head, but he needs to stop thinking that he can do someone else's job better than they can.

I don't work in the film studio system, but I've worked with managers who are like Rothman. Those kinds of people don't trust people to do their job, are penny pinchers, and increases employee turnover with their antics. Good managers who are more hands-off tend to have happier employees.