That’s show business. After a disappointing bummer of a summer at the box office, Sony Pictures has reportedly peremptorily ousted its marketing chief Marc Weinstock.
As CMO, Weinstock’s responsibilities included total global oversight of all movie marketing for Sony. According to Deadline, which broke the story, the studio is now expected to split that role into two parts and hire internally.
Dwight Caines, Sony’s current president of worldwide digital marketing, is in talks to take over the domestic side of the job, while Nigel Clark will focus on the international scene. Clark is currently Sony’s president of international marketing, a position that formerly reported to Weinstock.
Two recent flops under Weinstock’s watch—After Earth with Will Smith and White House Down starring Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx—were partly responsible for a 32% slide in U.S. ticket sales for Sony this year. Another recent bomb came in the form of Chris Brown’s 3D dance extravaganza Battle of the Year, which, says The Hollywood Reporter, brought in a scanty $4.6 million last weekend.
