Paramount Pictures 
Columbia Pictures 
20th Century Fox 
Jim Gianopulos wants theater owners to know that it's a new day at Paramount. The newly minted studio chairman inherited a company that had been weighed down by flops such as "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows," "Downsizing," and "Suburbicon.""It’s no secret we’ve had some difficult years at the box office," Gianopulos said at the exhibition industry confab CinemaCon. He then pivoted to a larger argument that in his first months on the job, he'd begun to assemble...
Paramount Pictures
Jim
Gianopulos
Chairman / CEO
Gianopulos joined Paramount Pictures this past March after being pushed out as head of 20th Century Fox’s movie studio in 2016. He had been at the studio for 25 years, the last 16 of which he served as chairman and CEO.
He was picked to succeed Brad Grey at Paramount because of his business acumen, extensive knowledge of the global marketplace and understanding of emerging technologies as traditional business models are being upended.
One of his first big moves in the new job was an attempt to rescue a $1 billion slate-financing deal that Paramount’s prior regime had made with the China’s Huahua Media and Shanghai Film Group. However, in August, Paramount’s corporate parent, Viacom Inc., disclosed that it had not received an expected payment from Huahua, throwing into question the health of the deal.
Gianopulos is expected to make further executive changes at Paramount as he builds his own team. He enjoys close relationships with agents, lawyers and filmmakers. At Fox, he worked with top creatives such as James Cameron, Ridley Scott and Paul Feig. During his tenure, the studio released a number of blockbusters, including “Deadpool,” “The Martian,” “The X-Men” films, “Avatar,” “Life of Pi” and Oscar best picture winners “12 Years a Slave” and “Birdman.”
Prior to being tapped co-chair of Fox alongside Tom Rothman in 2000, Gianopulos headed the studio’s successful international division. Earlier in his career, he held senior posts at Columbia Pictures and Paramount, and worked as an entertainment attorney.
