Paramount names Marc Evans as new film president

Paramount Pictures has named Marc Evans as the new president of its motion picture group, replacing Adam Goodman, who was ousted last month.

Evans, a 12-year veteran of the Melrose Avenue studio, will take the position immediately and will report to Paramount’s Chairman and Chief Executive Brad Grey, the company said Monday. Before his promotion to the top film job, Evans was Paramount’s president of production.

The move comes as the Viacom Inc.-owned movie studio faces a thin film slate compared to its Hollywood rivals. Its next self-produced movie “Terminator: Genisys” doesn’t hit theaters until July 1.

Last year, Paramount came in sixth place among the film studios in terms of domestic market share at the box-office. That can be blamed partly on the fact that Paramount releases fewer movies than many of its competitors.

People inside the studio say the company, known for tent-pole franchises including “Transformers” and “Mission Impossible,” wants to increase its slate to a total of about 15 releases a year.

Those familiar with the matter had said the company considered both internal candidates as well as people from rival studios.

In the end, Paramount picked an insider who first came aboard as vice president of production in 2003. Evans was promoted to senior vice president in 2006 and upped to executive vice president two years later.

He has served as president of production since 2010.

“Having evaluated the potential candidates for this role, it quickly became clear that Marc was the most qualified and that he has truly earned this position,” Grey said in a statement.

During his time at the studio, Evans has supervised production on movies in franchises including “Star Trek,” “Transformers” and “G.I. Joe,” as well as last year’s hit “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.” He also worked on the Brad Pitt zombie movie “World War Z” for the studio, which ran into well-documented production problems but became a strong box-office performer in 2013.

The studio has had its share of hits and misses so far this year.

“The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water” has scored an impressive $154.6 million in the U.S. and Canada. However, “Project Almanac” and “Hot Tub Time Machine 2” were both duds.

Besides the upcoming “Terminator” film, Paramount’s 2015 movies include “Mission Impossible 5,” “Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension” and the animated “Monster Trucks.”

“I am deeply grateful to Brad for this opportunity,” Evans said in a statement. “I look forward to helping execute our studio’s creative strategy and doing the thing I love most, working with our team to help filmmakers create movies that entertain and inspire people around the world.”

The executive change comes as parent company Viacom is undergoing a restructuring that has resulted in layoffs at multiple divisions, including Paramount and cable channels such as TV Land and MTV. Paramount cut close to 40 jobs last week.

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