NBC Universal boss Jeff Zucker is so concerned about the poor performance of Universal Studios that he is dispatching the company’s chief financial officer to Hollywood for a month to observe the studio’s business, The Post has learned.
According to four sources inside the company, Zucker wants CFO Lynn Calpeter to “get more educated on the studio” and have studio boss Ron Meyer explain his process for greenlighting movies and determining production and marketing budgets.
“It’s really the first time [Zucker] is asking Ron to explain things,” said one source, who added that for the last decade Meyer has been essentially free to run the studio as he sees fit.
But the studio’s underperformance and costly misstep with “Land of the Lost” this year has caught Zucker’s attention. The Will Ferrell vehicle, which was launched June 5, cost $100 million to make but has grossed just $44 million through last Friday.
So far this year, the only bona fide hit has been “The Fast and the Furious,” starring Vin Diesel, which has grossed $155 million. No other release has even reached the “Land of the Lost” numbers. The studio accounts for about 20 percent of NBCU’s total revenue.
Representatives for NBCU and Universal Studios declined to comment.
One source sought to play down Calpeter’s presence on the studio lot, saying she normally spends about one-third of her time on the West Coast and regularly visits with both the television and movie groups.
Even so, this source conceded Universal “is going through a tough patch” and that Calpeter’s visit is longer than usual because Zucker is “concerned about what is happening with the studio.”
First appointed president of Universal in 1994, Meyer is the longest-tenured studio leader in Hollywood and sources said he’s irritated about being under a microscope. Having Calpeter ask why he’s doing things a certain way “is getting under Ron’s skin,” said one source inside the studio.
“It’s always annoying for someone in Hollywood when corporate comes around because they generally don’t get the nuances of the business,” this source said.
Another Universal source disputed this account, saying, “There’s nothing surprising or shocking about Calpeter spending time here. Ron likes her and isn’t getting worked up about it.”
Universal’s next three releases — this Wednesday’s “Public Enemies,” starring Johnny Depp; Sasha Baron Cohen’s “Bruno” on July 10 and Judd Apatow’s “Funny People” on July 31 — have to perform up to expectations if the studio has any hope of turning its year around. The studio doesn’t have another major release until September.
“Universal had great success with ‘The Fast and the Furious,’ but the next few movies are key to their performance this year,” said Paul Dergarabedian, box office analyst with Hollywood.com.
Despite its box office shortcomings, Universal is still turning a profit for the year. The studio is also coming off two of its most profitable years ever in 2007 and 2008.