Gawker: defamer, tom rothman

Fox UpheavalWatch: Are Peter Chernin and Tom Rothman on the Way Out?

STV — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 18:54:28 EST

It is just a matter of time before a few of the generals at Fox are called to account after the year-long bombing raid that's left its studio clinging to life.

So come the whispers from inside, including this today to Jeffrey Wells: "Agents all say they're the studio of last resort, they don't pay money, and Rupert Murdoch has said they're all on a lifeboat and there are going to be radical changes there. He's unhappy, and when he gets this way he fires people. [Chernin's contract] "has been up for weeks and he still hasn't renewed it. I think he and Tom Rothman might leave." Brutal! Now Rothman will never get his Emmy. [Hollywood Elswehere]

Is Fox Head Tom Rothman Dulling the Claws of 'Wolverine'?

Kyle Buchanan — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:05:00 EDT

If there's one important lesson that can be drawn from the blockbuster performance of Warner Bros.' The Dark Knight, it's that audiences aren't afraid of a comic-book movie that takes a walk on the dark, grim side. However, the same can't necessarily be said for Fox topper Tom Rothman (the bane of AICN) who greenlit two Fantastic Four movies, hired Brett Ratner to direct X3, and now is allegedly mucking with the X-Men spinoff Wolverine. Despite the fact that the gritty, Hugh Jackman-topped film was met with a giddy response at this year's Comic-Con, Jeff Wells says that Rothman is pressuring director Gavin Hood to make the movie more kid-friendly — and when Hood won't cave, Rothman is taking matters into his own hands:

There was/is a huge Wolverine set being recently used. I'm not even sure which lot it was built on, but the look or mood of the set is, according to a source who was told Hood's view of things, supposed to be on the dark, dinghy and somber side. I only know what I was told, but the basics are that Hood was away from the set for whatever reason (shooting something else, taking a day or two off), and when he returned to the big somber set he was shocked to find that it had been repainted top to bottom on Rothman's orders. The murky-scuzzy vibe was gone, and a brighter and less downish look had taken its place.

Perhaps Rothman has taken his fan letter from Steven Spielberg too much to heart, but a child-friendly Wolverine feels less "X" and more "Y?" Does this mean his bristly greeting of "Bub" will be redubbed "Buddy," or his iconic cigar will be replaced with a pixie stick? C'mon, Tom: Wolvie isn't meant for buoyant musical numbers — or don't you remember what happened last time?

He Da Boss [Hollywood Elsewhere]

Tom Rothman Miraculously Avoids Humiliating Fox, Himself in TV Hosting Gig

STV — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:25:00 EDT

While visitors to NBC/Universal can still smell the singed flesh from Jeff Zucker's recent experiment in self-immolating sitcom introductions, the bloom of Tom Rothman's ongoing cable-hosting gig apparently has yet to wear off for viewers of the Fox Movie Channel. Or so notes today's New York Times, which positions the Fox co-chairman's introductions somewhere on the viability spectrum between Rod Serling and Milton Berle:

[A]fter 16 episodes of Fox Legacy, the Fox Movie Channel show that Mr. Rothman hosts, [Fox scion Richard] Zanuck and other naysayers are backtracking. The jocular Mr. Rothman has developed a cult following for his historical monologues and self-deprecating style. He gets fan mail — no less a viewer than Steven Spielberg recently dropped him a note — and more episodes are on order.

Fox Movie Channel, which is not part of Mr. Rothman's oversight, has lately been campaigning for an Emmy nomination for its new star. "The astounding thing for me, and I did find it truly astounding, is that he actually pulls this off," Mr. Zanuck said.

Indeed, we hope Rothman's triumph influences a new generation of front-office stars — say, Ben Silverman doing sideline reporting from women's swimming events at the upcoming Olympics or Jeff Robinov surveying the cutthroat reality environs of Survivor: Warner Bros. from afar. Or, in a perfect world, The Harvey Weinstein Garbage Hour, featuring an all-star line-up of contestants competing for one returned call from voicemails left for the mogul as far back as 2006. We'd watch it.

Rare Hollywood Type: Camera-Ready Executive [NYT]