Wagner in talks to leave United Artists - source
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - United Artists Chief Executive Paula Wagner is in talks to leave the film studio in which she and actor Tom Cruise are partners, a source close to the situation said on Wednesday.
Wagner, 61, and Cruise, 46, arrived at United Artists in 2006 with plans to revive the moribund film company alongside its parent, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.
The source said Wagner would likely leave her job at UA after completing post-production on World War II drama "Valkyrie," which is expected in theaters early next year. She will return to producing movies full-time under an independent label and for UA, while retaining an ownership stake in UA.
Wagner declined to comment, and representatives for MGM and Cruise were not immediately available.
Cruise and Wagner teamed up in November 2006 to buy part of UA, a venerable studio formed nearly 90 years ago by Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and D.W. Griffith.
Wagner would run the company, and Cruise would produce, act and bring in projects for UA.
MGM, which owned the film label, had previously shuttered it, but partnered with Cruise and Wagner in the new UA as one way to restart its own movie production.
In recent months, MGM has embarked on a new strategy of bulking up film production outside of UA, and it has hired several executives including veteran Mary Parent to kick-start its production.
The source familiar with the situation said MGM's plans caused friction between Wagner and MGM Chairman Harry Sloan.
Wagner and Cruise worked together for years as Cruise rose to become one of Hollywood's biggest stars with hits like "Risky Business," "Top Gun" and "Rain Man." Wagner was first his agent and later his producing partner.
Their company, Cruise/Wagner Productions, had been housed at Viacom Inc-owned Paramount Pictures, but left in 2006 after Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone publicly criticized Cruise and his 2006 movie "Mission: Impossible III."
(Editing by Mary Milliken and Braden Reddall)
