Business

Fox co-CEO Jim Gianopulos not worried about Katzenberg, declining movie attendance

The co-CEO of Fox’s movie studio isn’t worried about the reportedly demanding personality of his new distribution partner, DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, nor is he concerned about the recent downturn in movie attendance levels.

Fox Filmed Entertainment co-CEO Jim Gianopulos discussed the studio’s new deal with DreamWorks Animation and other business developments with The Hollywood Reporter.

Last month, it was announced that Fox would distribute DreamWorks Animation’s movies, taking over that responsibility from Paramount.

According to Gianopulos, although Sony was reported to be in discussions with Katzenberg’s studio, the Fox deal was in the works for a long time.

Gianopulos says he and Katzenberg became friends over the past ten years when Gianopulos became a board member at the Motion Picture and Television Fund.

“When it became apparent that DWA was leaving Paramount, it was a no-brainer for [co-CEO] Tom [Rothman] and I to do everything possible to bring them here,” Gianopulos said. “The rest was the usual working through the needs of both sides.”

Gianopulos dismissed concerns that Katzenberg’s ambitious, exacting personality would put a strain on Fox.

“We’re used to demanding,” he said. “We’ve had some of the most demanding creative and business people in the industry working with us for decades.”

Gianopulos also seemed unconcerned about the recent downturn in movie attendance numbers, which dropped to a 20-year-low this summer.

“Every time we bemoan the end of theatergoing as we know it, an ‘Avengers’ or ‘Avatar’ comes up, and people get excited and go to the movies,” he said.

Gianopulos also blamed the poor performance of Fox’s Ben Stiller comedy “The Watch” on the Trayvon Martin shooting, which initially forced Fox to change the movie’s title from “Neighborhood Watch” and the “Dark Knight Rises” shooting in Colorado, which took place a week before the movie was released.

“It was badly timed and missed its mark,” he said.

Speaking of missing an opportunity, the Fox co-CEO said he was disappointed that the studio’s rights to “Daredevil” recently reverted to Marvel.

“The sand ran through the glass on that,” he said. “We had great ideas on reimagining the character but weren’t able to work it out.”

Gianopulos also offered some more insight into why Fox, which has previously strongly defended the theatrical release window, recently chose to release its movies for purchase online three weeks before the DVD release.

“Our biggest challenge remains the “dark zone” — the period between the average life of a film in theaters, which is about 3.5 weeks, and the DVD release, which is around four months. We need to develop offerings that don’t leave audiences in the dark for so long,” he said. “With almost 800 million broadband devices globally, we feel the medium’s time has come. A number of online retailers have embraced the plan. And we’re working with Apple to develop other ways people can enjoy ownership of movies.”

Fox is owned by News Corp., which also owns The Post.