Murdoch Acts Swiftly to Replace Roth at Fox : Entertainment: The new chairman, Peter Chernin, has limited film experience but several hit TV shows to his credit, including “Beverly Hills 90210” and “In Living Color.”

Fox Inc. Chairman Rupert Murdoch moved to quickly stabilize management at 20th Century Fox on Monday by naming Fox Entertainment Group President Peter Chernin as Joe Roth’s replacement.

Chernin, who was Murdoch’s favored inside candidate, will take over as chairman when Roth leaves Fox at the end of the year to start an independent production company at Walt Disney Studios.

The 41-year-old Chernin is best known as the executive who championed such Fox hit shows as “Beverly Hills 90210” and “In Living Color,” but his film experience is limited. Fox sources expect that Chernin’s deputy, Sandy Grushow, will be tapped to succeed him.

Chernin’s appointment was viewed by many in Hollywood as the latest example of Murdoch’s desire to wield greater influence over day-to-day activities on the Century City lot, where the global media baron has been based for more than a year.

Roth is the second major executive to defect from the company this year. Former Fox Inc. Chairman Barry Diller resigned in February, saying he wanted to buy or start his own business.

Murdoch also fired TV executive Stephen Chao after Chao hired a male model to disrobe at a management conference. He then reorganized management by appointing Chase Carey as the film and TV company’s chief operating officer. Still undecided is the fate of studio President and Chief Operating Officer Strauss Zelnick, who is working without a contract.

Roth’s departure, while not unexpected, comes just as Fox is solidifying its position as one of the most profitable studios in Hollywood. For the fiscal year ended last June, 20th Century Fox Film Corp. reported revenue of $1.8 billion and pretax earnings of $224 million.

Fox executives say Murdoch routinely sits in on staff meetings and does not hesitate to volunteer his opinion about projects. To date, most of Murdoch’s interest has been on the TV side, where he is deeply involved in getting the network’s news division off the ground.

Chernin can be expected to carry out Murdoch’s mandate to keep a lid on costs while at the same time trying to attract top talent to the studio. Murdoch also believed that it was important to appoint someone from inside the Fox ranks.

Those kind of marching orders could make him as controversial as Lucie Salhany, chairman of Fox’s Twentieth Television unit, who stunned many in the production community when she took the unprecedented step of shutting down production of a prime-time TV series before it was canceled by the network.

“Murdoch is adamant about getting costs down,” said Jessica Reif, an analyst with Oppenheimer & Co. Roth’s departure, she said, “was over price, pure and simple.”

Chernin’s only prior experience in the film business was a two-year stint as president of an independent movie company, Lorimar Film Entertainment. He had limited success--his biggest hit was “Dangerous Liaisons”--while overseeing a slate of 15 projects.

No stranger to executive turnover, Fox has had four studio chiefs in the last eight years. Studio insiders hope for a relatively smooth transition.

“Joe is a talented executive and, as successful as he’s been, there’s bound to be a bump,” said Tom Sherak, executive vice president of 20th Century Fox, “Still, we’re in good shape. All the people who helped make things happen are still at the studio.”

Now in fourth place in terms of market share, Fox has high hopes for the upcoming “Home Alone 2,” Barry Levinson’s “Toys” with Robin Williams and “Hoffa,” directed by Danny DeVito and starring Jack Nicholson.

And the studio already has 22 movies scheduled for release next year--four more than it will release this year.

Among the highlights: a filmed adaptation of Michael Crichton’s “Rising Sun,” with Wesley Snipes and Sean Connery; “Hot Shots 2”; “The Good Son,” a drama starring Macaulay Culkin, and Chris Columbus’ “Mrs. Doubtfire,” to which Robin Williams has just committed.

One of Roth’s pet projects, “Die Hard 3,” is being rewritten, considered too close thematically to the box office hit “Under Siege.”

Roger Birnbaum, Fox’s president of worldwide production, intends to remain in his position. One of his current priorities, according to studio insiders: consolidating ties with filmmakers such as Lawrence Kasdan (“Grand Canyon”), John Hughes (“Home Alone”) and James Cameron (“Terminator 2”), cultivated during the previous regime.

“Joe and I did everything together, so nothing’s in jeopardy,” Birnbaum said.