Stacey Snider will take over as the chairman and CEO of 20th Century Fox Film months ahead of schedule, as departing chief Jim Gianopulos will leave in the coming weeks — and not when his contract ends on June 30, 2017, as originally planned — the studio announced on Tuesday.
In June, Fox announced the executive shakeup, with Snider ascending to its top film job and Gianopulos transitioning to a corporate advisory role when his contract expires.
Snider joined Fox from DreamWorks in 2014 and was assumed to be Gianopulos’ natural replacement, a source familiar with the studio’s inner workings told TheWrap at the time.
Last week, Fox’s worldwide head of marketing and distribution for its film division, Paul Hanneman, decided not to renew his contract and will leave the studio in October. Hanneman was set to revert back to a role overseeing international distribution.
Gianopulos is currently returning from a vacation in Greece and is expected to be back at work this week to commence settlement talks. He served as c0-chair of Fox’s filmed entertainment division alongside Tom Rothman from 2000 through 2012, when he became the sole chief.
Fox is currently the third-ranked studio by market share, capturing 14.6 percent of the domestic box office through August 21.