Is Disney’s magic well dry? Since July, when Walt Disney Pictures made former marketing chief Oren Aviv its head of live-action production, the greenlight process at the studio has virtually ground to a halt. Several industry sources say that since Aviv took over, the only project he’s given the go-ahead to is National Treasure 2—though some say his predecessor, Nina Jacobson, moved it into production, meaning Aviv has greenlit nothing. (Aviv had the idea that became National Treasure; he receives an executive-producer credit on that film and its sequel.) “It’s sort of a sign of the future,” says one source who worked with Aviv in his marketing days. “Movie companies no longer making movies.” A Disney spokeswoman calls the no-greenlight claim “completely untrue,” insisting that Aviv, who had little prior film-production experience, has greenlit four films during his tenure—though the studio would not name those movies. “When we want the press to know,” the spokeswoman says, “we will announce them.”
Movie Moratorium in Magic Kingdom
Studio is sleeping beauty.
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