Long Island-raised Alan Horn is Disney’s choice to lead its film studio. (AP)
He may not be good enough for Time Warner’s Jeff Bewkes, but he’s good enough for Bob Iger.
Disney’s CEO yesterday named former Warner Bros. Entertainment boss Alan Horn as the new head of the Mouse House’s film operation.
Horn, who is currently executive producing “The Hobbit,” was pushed out last March by Bewkes for unknown reasons.
At the time, Horn made it clear that he loved movie-making and didn’t want to go. Horn will start his new gig as chairman and CEO of Disney Studios on June 11.
Iger, in a statement, appeared to appease critics who knocked Disney for having moved too far in the direction of business and away from artistry with his last choice, Rich Ross.
Iger said Horn had an “appreciation of movie making as both an art and a business.”
Studio bosses must have the ability to relate to high-level creative executives as well as deliver big numbers to satisfy Wall Street.
Some studios, like Sony Pictures, Warner Bros. and Twentieth Century Fox, solve the problem by having co-chair executives each with different skills.
Horn will oversee Disney movie production houses including Marvel and Pixar, as well as the Disney-branded franchise and a distribution agreement with Spielberg’s DreamWorks Studios.
Horn will likely be better received by Tinseltown than his predecessor, Ross, who moved from heading Disney Channel Worldwide into the studio slot.
Ross presided over a couple of box-office flops including, “Mars Needs Moms” and “John Carter.”
The “Carter” fiasco forced Disney to take an embarrassing write-down last quarter.
Iger’s choice of Ross was viewed as a way to shake up entrenched practices in Hollywood.
The selection of Horn indicates a belief that traditional movie-making and marketing approaches are the best route.