Film: Rob Fried, who produced “Rudy,” “So,...

Film: Rob Fried, who produced “Rudy,” “So, I Married An Ax Murderer” and other films for TriStar Pictures, said Monday that he has entered a major deal with Savoy Pictures. His Fried Films will operate as an independent unit under the agreement, which calls for Savoy to guarantee production and distribution of an unspecified number of Fried-produced movies. Fried said he chose Savoy because of the creative freedom offered and because of his ties to Victor Kaufman, Savoy’s chairman, and Lewis Korman, its president. The move is effective June 15, when Fried’s contract expires with TriStar, a Sony Pictures’s unit. Fried also acknowledged that his decision to pick Savoy rather than stay with Sony was influenced by the recent departures of Jonathan Dolgen from Sony Pictures and Mike Medavoy from TriStar. Fried, a former executive with Columbia Pictures, 20th Century Fox and Orion, has worked closely with producer Cary Woods.

Exhibition: After nearly five years of ownership, Sony is putting its name on the marquee. The Loews chain of movie theaters is expected to be renamed Sony Theaters, reflecting the company’s status as a division of Culver City-based Sony Pictures Entertainment. The change was expected to be announced today by Loews co-Chairmen Barrie Lawson Loeks and Jim Loeks. The names on all the individual Loews theaters will eventually be changed, starting with those in the New York area. Sony acquired the Loews chain in 1989 when it bought Columbia Pictures Entertainment. Sony executives have said the chain enjoyed a record year in 1993, thanks largely to the overall box office Hollywood generated last summer. The company is the seventh-largest movie exhibitor, with nearly 1,000 screens in 15 states. Sony Theaters is undergoing expansion, with five theater complexes added in 1993 and at least six more due this year.