UPDATED: Sanford Panitch has been named president of Columbia Pictures, replacing long-time executive Doug Belgrad, whose departure from the studio leaked out Thursday.The announcement of Panitch's appointment came from Tom Rothman, chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment's Motion Picture Group. Rothman became head of the film operation in February of 2015, in a move designed to right the studio after a series of lackluster films and a computer hack that unveiled embarrassing emails sent by his predecessor, Amy Pascal.Belgrad will move in...
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sanford
Panitch
President, Motion Picture Group
Panitch was named president of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group along with Josh Greenstein in October 2019. But in spite of the new title, his responsibilities are the same ones he had the previous three years as president of Columbia Pictures: oversee all movie development and production for the studio. He continues to command Sony Pictures’ Marvel Universe, which has spawned a number of blockbusters, including “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” the studio’s highest-grossing film of all time ($1.14 billion), and has a number of other titles in the works, including “Morbius,” “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” and “Kraven the Hunter,” the first two of which will drop in 2021. Panitch has also brought in a succession of signings with major talent, including the September inking of Jamie Foxx for an overall deal to develop and produce feature films.