Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment and chairman of its motion picture group, is stepping down from her post in the wake of the computer hack that exposed the studio's dirty laundry, movie development plans, and embarrassing cancellation and then ultimate release of The Interview.
Pascal will remain at her post until May at which point she will transition to a production company deal at the studio, according to Variety. Sony will finance and retain worldwide distribution rights to any movies Pascal produces under terms of the deal.
“I have spent almost my entire professional life at Sony Pictures and I am energized to be starting this new chapter based at the company I call home,” said Pascal in a statement. “I have always wanted to be a producer.”
Pascal has been at the Culver City-based studio since 1988 and, as boss of the motion picture group, oversaw films such as the Spider-Man franchise, The Social Network, Zero Dark Thirty, 21 Jump Street, Men in Black, the Daniel Craig James Bond movies, White House Down, Captain Phillips, The Da Vinci Code, Hitch, and The Interview.
It was the latter Seth Rogen-James Franco comedy that reportedly led to the hacking of Sony Pictures' computers (which the FBI holds North Korea accountable for) and the subsequent deluge of snarky emails, development plans, and overall embarrassing details that the media poured over for weeks.
Sony's decision and then about-face on the release of The Interview even roped in President Barack Obama, who was also the butt of a politically incorrect and racially insensitive joke in an exposed email between Pascal and Social Network producer Scott Rudin.
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