Shakeup at UA

Paula Wagner, who with longtime business partner Tom Cruise was supposed to revitalize MGM's United Artists label, is calling it quits. The WSJ and DHD posted earlier this afternoon and the NYT has just followed up. Sounds like everybody is bad-mouthing everybody else on this one: Wagner supposedly couldn’t manage a studio and MGM honcho Harry Sloan wanted to ride roughshod. You might recall that Wagner and Cruise arrived with great fanfare a couple of years back - and more importantly, they arrived with financing, courtesy of a $500-million deal led by Merrill Lynch. They were to make a slate of four films in five years, but UA's only feature under the new management - "Lions for Lambs" - was a box office also-ran. Picture number two, "Valkyrie," comes out in December. From the Journal:

In departing from UA, Ms. Wagner plans to continue producing films independently and with the label. Going forward, Ms. Wagner and Mr. Cruise will retain an ownership interest in United Artists. She couldn't be reached for comment. Ms. Wagner's move poses a tricky situation for Mr. Cruise, who parted ways with Paramount Pictures in 2006 after a public dispute with Sumner Redstone, chairman of Paramount's owner, Viacom Inc. There, Mr. Cruise's production company enjoyed a lucrative producing deal which paid up to $10 million a year for administrative costs and development of scripts.