The Vine - February 4, 2004

De Luca to exit D'Works post

DreamWorks' Michael De Luca is expected to exit his post as head of production when his contract expires in June, sources said. Production executive Adam Goodman, a DreamWorks vet who started with the company as an assistant, is in line to replace him, with an announcement expected in the coming weeks. DreamWorks spokeswoman Susan Bennett declined comment. In June, De Luca will have been at the studio three years. The former New Line production president was hired with the charge of filling the pipeline with an additional three to four movies a year, up from the eight or nine movies DreamWorks released annually in the years before his appointment. However, that production increase never materialized, and the studio is coming off a sour year at the boxoffice in which it had no films hit the $100 million mark. The poor showing is attributed less to the talents of De Luca — known for his strong relationships with talent and keen eye for material — and more to an in-house conflict between him and studio co-heads Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald. Now that he is prepping to leave the studio, it has been rumored that De Luca is likely to end up at Warner Bros. Pictures with a production pact, though sources have said that he has yet to decide what his next move will be.