Viacom counting on new chief to save Paramount

Los Angeles

VIACOM has turned to one of Hollywood's most seasoned and respected executives, James Gianopulos, to revive its faded Paramount Pictures operation. But some analysts worry that Paramount is too far gone.

Mr Gianopulos, who turns 65 in April, will take over as chairman of Paramount on April 3, Viacom said on Monday. Mr Gianopulos, the consummate Hollywood insider who is treasurer of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, previously ran 20th Century Fox.

Viacom is counting on him to bring immediate stability to Paramount, which has been in free-fall. The studio, which lost US$445 million in its last fiscal year, found modest Oscar-season hits in Fences and Arrival. But it has mostly become a bomb factory, releasing unpopular films such as Silence, Allied, Ben-Hur, Zoolander 2, Monster Trucks and 13 Hours:…