Updated 12:55 p.m. ET
Former Warner Bros. Television Group president Bruce
Rosenblum has been named to the same position at Legendary Entertainment's
television and digital media division, the company announced Monday.
Rosenblum will oversee launching the division charged with
producing programming for linear and on-demand platforms as well as developing
digital distribution opportunities for broadband, mobile and emerging
technologies. He will report to Thomas Tull, founder and CEO of Legendary
Entertainment.
"Bruce has an outstanding track record in the business, and
he will be instantly additive to the team in our efforts to continue to make
world-class content for consumers, however and wherever they access that
content," Tull said. "We are pleased to have him join Legendary and look
forward to working together to continue to build value for the company."
Legendary and Tull, who transitioned to entertainment after
earlier stints in finance, are known to have a strained relationship with
Warner Bros., though over the years the partnership has yielded such major film
franchises as The Dark Knight, The Hangover and 300. Over
the weekend, the pricey, Legendary-backed Superman reboot Man of Steel
scored big at the box office, opening to $128.7 million domestically and
another $71.6 million overseas.
Tull's deal at Warner expires at year-end, so speculation
about a new arrangement for Legendary has long percolated. On July 12, the
studio will release Pacific Rim, a Guillermo del Toro-directed sci-fi
movie whose costs are mostly shouldered by Legendary, a test for Tull's
creative and financial acumen.
On the TV front, the question is whether Legendary can join
high-end companies from Imagine to Bruckheimer to Bad Robot in having
comparable levels of success in both the film and TV arenas. Known for his
fanboy enthusiasm and self-made success, the 42-year-old Tull is a presence at
fan events like Comic-Con when he's not rooting on sports teams in his adopted
hometown of Pittsburgh. The addition of Rosenblum gives him the kind of veteran
leadership on the TV side that he has not had in other parts of his company.
Rosenblumended his two-decade career at Warner Bros. in May after being passed over
for the chairman post, which went to Kevin Tsujihara. During his tenure, the TV
group generated huge profits for Warner Bros. with hits like The Big Bang
Theory, Person of Interest and 2 Broke Girls.
He is also chairman and CEO of the Academy of
Television Arts and Sciences.
Dade Hayes contributed to this report.
