Los Angeles Times

FILM FIRM’S CHIEF TO STEP DOWN

Producer Peter Loehr will leave Legendary Entertainm­ent’s Chinese subsidiary.

- By Ryan Faughnder

Movie producer Peter Loehr will step down as the chief executive of Legendary Entertainm­ent’s Chinese subsidiary, the company said Thursday.

Loehr, who has run Beijing-based Legendary East for about five years, will leave the production company June 1. No reason was given for the exit, and no replacemen­t has yet been named.

His departure marks the latest executive shake-up for Chinese-owned Legendary Entertainm­ent, and comes just four months after founder Thomas Tull resigned as chairman and chief executive.

Legendary East, owned by Chinese property and entertainm­ent conglomera­te Dalian Wanda Group, recently produced “The Great Wall,” the most expensive Chinese-American co-production to date. The $150million Matt Damon epic grossed $170 million in China but failed to do much business elsewhere.

Wanda, run by Chinese billionair­e Wang Jianlin, bought Burbank-based Legendary Entertainm­ent for $3.5 billion early last year. Tull was replaced by Wanda entertainm­ent executive Jack Gao as interim CEO.

Besides co-production­s, Legendary East is responsibl­e for distributi­ng and marketing movies in the world’s second-biggest box-office market. It recently handled the releases of Hollywood movies including “Warcraft,” which bombed in the U.S. but scored huge ticket sales in China, and the successful “Kong: Skull Island.”

Loehr has been based in China for 22 years, and prior to Legendary served as managing director for Creative Artists Agency’s office there from 2005 to 2012. Loehr did not say what he plans to do next.

“Having the opportunit­y to grow Legendary’s business in China has been an incredible experience and journey for me,” Loehr said in a statement.

Gao, who is CEO of internatio­nal investment­s and operations for Wanda Cultural Industry Group, said he plans to announce a new Legendary East leader soon.

Executives could not be reached for comment.

ryan.faughnder @latimes.com

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