Jim Gianopulos
James N. Gianopulos (Greek: Δημήτρης Γιαννόπουλος) is an American businessman. He served as chairman and CEO of 20th Century Fox and most recently as chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures until his departure in September 2021.
Jim Gianopulos
Early life[edit]
Gianopulos was born in 1952 in Brooklyn, New York City. He is a second-generation Greek American. He graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1973, received a Juris Doctor from the Fordham University School of Law in 1976, and attended the Master's program at the New York University School of Law.[1][2]
Career[edit]
Gianopulos started his career by working at Columbia Pictures and Paramount. In 1992, he was appointed President of 20th Century Fox International, where he was responsible for the marketing and distribution for the studio's films and television programs.[2][3][4][5]
From 2000 to 2012, Gianopulos was chairman and CEO of Fox Filmed Entertainment with Tom Rothman. During that time, the company earned over $30 billion from the box office and made the then two highest-grossing films, Titanic and Avatar; and twenty movies he greenlit each grossed over $100 million domestically ($151 million in current dollars) and 26 movies that fetched $100 million internationally. Fox films during his tenure were nominated for more than 150 Academy Awards and won three Best Picture Awards, including Slumdog Millionaire, which won the Best Picture Oscar in 2008.[2][4][6]
Gianopulos took over as the sole chairman and CEO of Fox beginning in 2012.[7] In this position, he served as the head of 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight, Fox 2000, Fox Animation/Blue Sky Studios, Fox International Productions and Fox Home Entertainment.[6] During his tenure, the studio had its most profitable years and broke the industry global box-office record in 2014.[8] Some notable successes during his time at Fox include two of the biggest box office hits of all time, Titanic and Avatar, as well as several entries into the Planet of the Apes, Ice Age and X-Men franchises, as well as Deadpool (2016), and The Martian (2015).[9]
At Fox, Gianopulos supported a closer relationship between Hollywood and Silicon Valley,[6] and he was instrumental in the launch of iTunes, the Hulu streaming service, and other internet-driven offerings.[10][11]
In March 2017, he was named chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures, after the dismissal of the late Brad Grey.[12] Gianopulos began his duties on April 3, 2017.[13] He oversaw all feature film and television production, marketing and global distribution. Under his leadership, Paramount experienced a revitalization, with Gianopulos focusing on returning the studio to profitability. After Paramount had suffered years of losses, including an operating loss of $445 million the year before Gianopulos was hired in 2017, by 2019 he had returned the studio to its first full-year profit.[14]
During his tenure, Paramount released a succession of successful films, including A Quiet Place (2018), Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018), Rocketman (2019) and Sonic the Hedgehog (2020). He put into production the box office blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick (2022), as well as Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022), A Quiet Place Part II (2021), IF (2024), The Lost City (2022) and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) and an untitled eighth film (2025).[15] Gianopulos also was responsible for the expansion of Paramount Television Studios, including the release of The Offer, a drama series about the making of The Godfather, as well as Shantaram, Fatal Attraction, and many other series.[16][17]
It was announced that CBS and Viacom (parent company of Paramount Pictures) would recombine as ViacomCBS in December 2019. Jim Gianopulos was confirmed to continue on as chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures under the merged ViacomCBS.[18] Gianopulos left Paramount in September 2021 and was replaced by Nickelodeon president Brian Robbins.[19] After leaving Paramount, Gianopulos was later vindicated for his strategy of protecting the theatrical window while supplying films to streaming services and pay television with shorter windows, when, through the films he left behind, he gave Paramount its best year at the box office in many years, leaving "five No. 1 hit movies in a row in the pipeline. The big one, of course, the one that demonstrated what movies feel like and what they can do in success, was Top Gun: Maverick."[15][20]
Gianopulos serves as chairman of the board of directors of the Motion Picture & Television Fund.[21] He is also on the board of the X Prize Foundation[2] as well as the board of the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, where he is also an adjunct professor.[22] Gianopulos also serves as a member of the board of trustees of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, where he also serves as its treasurer.[23]
Gianopulos has received numerous accolades and recognition for his contributions to the entertainment industry, including the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Humanitarian Award in 2013,[24] the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation's 2015 Pioneer of the Year award,[25] and the Producers Guild of America Milestone Award in 2016.[26]
