There’s suspense on the Sony Pictures film lot — and not the good kind.
Michael Lynton, the chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment, and co-chairwoman Amy Pascal are feeling the pressure from Sony brass along with outside investors to cut costs and shake up the studio.
On Monday, Sony cut loose marketing chief Marc Weinstock, just days after longtime p.r. chief Steve Elzer announced he was stepping down. Other top Sony executives are also headed for the exits, sources said.
Adding to the drama at Sony is activist Dan Loeb, who earlier proposed a spinoff of up to 20 percent of the studio and other entertainment holdings. As ammunition, he held up Sony’s summer flops, “After Earth,” and “White House Down.”
Loeb backed down after megastar George Clooney rushed to the studio’s defense, but his calls for greater transparency on executive pay and profitability are proving hard to ignore.
“The Loeb thing woke everybody up and now they’re trying to do everything they can to show they’re making changes and not standing pat,” said one source.
Sony is set to hold an investor meeting on Nov. 21 at its Culver City, Calif., studio, which will focus on the entertainment unit, although it’s unclear if Loeb will be on hand.
Late last week, Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai, who took over for longtime chief Howard Stringer, told WSJ.com in an interview that the studio’s process for greenlighting movies is changing, suggesting that Lynton and Pascal will focus on more profitability going forward.
Sony’s animated “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2” is expected to rake in a respectable $45 million this weekend, but the studio has struggled at the box office for most of the year.
Its year-to-date market share has slid to 10.1 percent, with $799.6 million in receipts, down from 16.6 percent, or $1.79 billion, at the same point last year, according to BoxOffice.com.