Donna Langley has become the first British women to run a Hollywood studio and the choice couldn’t have been more perfect. As reported by Guardian, during Langley’s previous job as president of production she oversaw Alfonso Cuaron‘s Children of Men, the Greengrass Bourne sequels, and recently had her hand in next year’s The Wolfman. Her promotion comes after the firing of Universal’s previous chairman Marc Shmuger and co-chairman David Linde for the disappointing 2009 box office. Universal’s flops included Land of the Lost, Duplicity, State of Play, Public Enemies, Bruno and Funny People.
Hopefully this means more smart, possibly sci-fi, action blockbusters coming out of Universal. Most of this summer’s films that were “flops” weren’t even terrible (save for Land of the Lost), so with Langley on top maybe these under appreciated films can be pushed in the right direction. Children of Men could possible be my favorite film of the decade (outside of Cidade de Deus) so I definitely welcome this decision. With all the turmoil at NBC Universal I’m eager to see what Langley does.
What do you think of this decision? Does Universal have a chance?