Several names have emerged as possible successors to the fired studio head.
With Rich Ross forced to resign Friday from his post of chairman of Walt Disney Studios, Disney CEO Bob Iger is now tasked with replacing an executive whose rocky tenure demonstrated an inability to transition his success in television to film.
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Sources say Iger informed studio insiders Friday that he doesn’t have anyone in mind for the job yet and is no rush to fill the position. The studio has dramatically trimmed the number of movies it is making and is in production on only one film, Johnny Depp’s The Lone Ranger, limiting the destabilizing effect of a studio head exit.
Regardless, speculation has begun throughout Hollywood about who might succeed Ross. Although the job will be coveted by some — studio chief positions rarely come open, especially considering the relative stability atop Disney’s rivals — but Disney’s limited output might discourage some top executives from taking on the position. Here are some names being debated around town:
