Tom Rothman, one of the longest-serving film executives in Hollywood, has extended his contract as Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group by several years. Rothman has been with Sony for over a decade - he joined the company in 2013 as head of TriStar Pictures and was appointed head of the film division in 2015. He has also held the title of CEO since 2021.

Under his leadership, Sony Pictures achieved record profits, even though the studio has fewer well-known film rights compared to competitors such as Disney and Warner Bros Discovery. Rothman's biggest successes include blockbusters such as the "Jumanji" series, "Anyone But You", the "Venom" films and the "Equaliser" trilogy.

He was particularly successful with the revitalisation of the "Spider-Man" series, for which he brought Marvel on board. The results included "Spider-Man: No Way Home", which grossed 1.9 billion dollars worldwide. However, some spin-offs from the Spider-Man universe, such as "Madame Web" and "Kraven the Hunter", did less well.

Rothman has also championed more ambitious films, such as Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood" and Greta Gerwig's "Little Women", both of which earned critical acclaim and audience success.

Sony's future plans include the zombie film "28 Years Later" by Danny Boyle, Taika Waititi's "Klara and the Sun", four Beatles films by Sam Mendes, a new "Karate Kid" film with Ralph Macchio and Jackie Chan and a live-action film based on the video game series "The Legend of Zelda".

With decades of experience, Rothman is now regarded as a kind of "elder statesman" of the industry. Before his time at Sony, he spent 18 years at 20th Century Fox in various management positions - including co-chairman and CEO. He was also the founder and first president of Fox Searchlight and previously worked at the Samuel Goldwyn Company and Columbia Pictures.

Variety reports in detail.