Priceless, Sausage gets ticket in the Windy City.

I’m guessing this must be the PR guy…righhht

“The Last Mimzy” proves to be too flimsy for Marketing Chief Russell Schwartz

New Line Cinema- Announced that they have replaced Marketing Chief Russell Schwartz after a 6 year tenure at NLC. Mr. Schwartz has outlived many of his predecessors so he should walk away from this experience with a sense of accomplishment. The three films that may have led up to his departure are “Texas Chainsaw Massacre:The Beginning” (They should have given the sequel the axe), “Snakes on A Plane” (SOAP), and the Jim Carrey physiological thriller “The Number 23″. I have seen 2 out of the 3 and would say that they are decent films but not blockbusters.

“Rush Hour 3″ and “Hairspray” are both works of New Line Cinema, needless to say that I won’t be rushing to see either of those films anytime to soon. The nail in the coffin for Schwartz was “The Last Mimzy” which was directed by the founder of New Line Cinema, Bob Shaye, I would have run from that as soon as I had heard about that project. A bunny with mystical powers, um… New Line Cinema execs said that the film opened with only 40%-50% awareness and that just didn’t cut it, well maybe Schwartz planned it that way to prevent the studio from looking rather childish.

A direct quote from Mr. Schwartz himself told Ad Age the decision to leave was “amicable and mutual,” explaining that because the studio’s founder is still also its top exec, he’d also, effectively, reached a management ceiling.

Well there you have it, mutual agreement to move along. Let’s not forget however that Schwartz opened the “Lord of the Rings: The fellowship of the rings”

The new Marketing Chief is Chris Carlisle and I wish him the best.