BLADE RUNNER
All the chatter about Paramount Pictures CEO Brad Grey getting fired – which was all anyone in Hollywood could talk about during the former talent agent’s initial 18 months on the job – has vanished.
That’s because the vitriol DreamWorks co-founder David Geffen has spewed at Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone has had the inadvertent effect of bringing Redstone and Grey closer together, according to conversations with more than a half-dozen people close to all three men.
These people said if Geffen thought he made a poor choice in selling to Viacom – as the mogul infamously stated in a recent, claws-bearing interview in Vanity Fair – directing his hostility at Redstone was an even worse move.
If Geffen, whose DreamWorks has been the prime moviemaking revenue maker for Viacom, had kept the pressure on Grey – whom ironically he championed for the job in the first place – instead of switching to Redstone, he might have won the day and forced the Paramount boss’ ouster.
Instead, Geffen has not only given Grey a modicum of job security, he has also assured that Viacom won’t be renewing DreamWorks’ contract when it expires next November. That has Geffen shopping the studio “all over town” to potential buyers, sources said.
“Sumner isn’t going to take David’s s-, so basically he’s on Brad’s side,” said one person close to the men.
Another person close to the triumvirate said, “DreamWorks doesn’t mean enough to Viacom in the grand scheme of things for Sumner to keep taking corporate potshots. The deal was great for Viacom financially, and while Geffen is upset that Brad outmaneuvered him, Sumner has been impressed with Grey’s toughness.”
For his part, Grey seems to have finally realized that his efforts to make DreamWorks happy are futile and has instead been doing everything he can to keep in the good graces of Redstone and Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman.
While some sources claim Grey’s demureness stems from the fact the he is “totally dominated by Dauman,” others simply labeled him an “effective company guy” who is astute at corporate politics.
Whatever the rationale, it seems to be working. In a statement provided to The Post, Dauman said, “Brad is an outstanding executive and is doing an excellent job. He has put Paramount on a great path for success and I look forward to working with him for many years to come.”
Of course, job security at Viacom is always a tenuous proposition – particularly in Grey’s case, when the big moneymaker is DreamWorks, not Paramount. DreamWorks’ movies accounted for about two- thirds of Paramount’s box office output this year, according to figures supplied by Media by Numbers. The parent studio’s only bona fide hit so far is the recently released “Beowulf.”
Next year, however, the financial situation reverses itself, with Paramount featuring the likes of J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek,” the fourth installment in the “Indiana Jones” series,Mike Myers’ “Love Guru” and pictures starring Eddie Murphy and Brad Pitt.
Reps for Paramount and DreamWorks declined to comment.