LOCAL : Dawn Steel Leaves Columbia

Columbia Pictures President Dawn Steel, one of the most powerful female executives in Hollywood, resigned today in a move widely expected after Sony Corp. bought the studio for $3.4 billion.

Steel’s status has been shaky since Sony hired “Batman” producers Peter Guber and Jon Peters to run the studio and then negotiated a settlement worth about $500 million to free them from their Warner Bros. contract.

Steel, who is credited with turning around Columbia during her two-year stint, has agreed to remain as a consultant to the studio, bought by Sony in September.

“Peter Guber and Jon Peters are longtime friends of mine, and I wish them well as they take up the reins at Columbia,” Steel said in a statement in the resignation announcement. “I will do everything I can to help them effect an orderly change.”