Amid the fallout of the Sony hacking crisis, Amy Pascal will step down from her post as co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment.
The move has been widely expected ever since the studio became engulfed in scandal following one of the worst cyberattacks in corporate history — and certainly the most embarrassing hit ever taken by a major Hollywood institution in the digital age. Pascal became the obvious target for housecleaning once President Obama fingered the North Korean government as being behind the hack. She alone was responsible for green-lighting the comedy The Interview, which is believed to have sparked the wrath of North Korea.
As often is the case with ousted studio heads, Pascal will launch a major new production venture at the studio. Pascal, whose deal was up in March, will transition to the new venture in May. As part of the deal, she will be a producer on the new Ghostbusters film as well as future Amazing Spider-Man outings (former Columbia Pictures president Matt Tolmach also segued to the role of Spider-Man producer after he exited his post).
“I have spent almost my entire professional life at Sony Pictures and I am energized to be starting this new chapter based at the company I call home,” she said in a statement. “I have always wanted to be a producer.”
