Cannes | Parent and Sloan announce new company called "MGM"
Leo the Lion's new keepers held a coming-out panel at the American Pavilion Saturday as MGM chairman-CEO Harry Sloan and motion-picture group topper Mary Parent showed a flashy demo reel of the studio's hefty library under the headline "The Lion roars again."
"I've been spending a lot of money," Parent said of her first eight weeks on the job. Parent and Sloan said they are now working to fill a 20-films-a-year slate.
"We need world rights on 10 films," Sloan said at the panel moderated by Variety editor Timothy M. Gray, "and you'll see us acquire eight to 10 indies."
For future projects, Parent said she will tap into MGM's bank of franchises. Among the projects are a redo of "Robocop" (which Parent said might be fun in 3-D) a contempo re-telling of the cold-war actioner "Red Dawn" and waiting on "the right script" for "The Thomas Crown Affair 2." Sights are also set on "The Hobbit," a two-film prequel to "The Lord of the Rings" set for Christmas 2011 and 2012.
Sloan wouldn't name the writers attached to the project, "but you can probably guess," he teased.
As a member of the AMPTP, Sloan also spoke about the disastrous effect of a possible actors strike. "If SAG goes on strike, I don't know what brings them back to the table. ... I don't think there will be enthusiasm for the strike. The negotiations are going OK. There's not as much rhetoric this time."
Sloan On Sony:
"Sony didn't manage MGM well. But they did win the HD DVD format war by using our library."
On getting material to them:
"Attach Will Smith."
On the Tom Cruise-starrer "Valkyrie":
Sloan said the widely-ridiculed photo on Cruise wearing the eyepatch was unfortunate, "because it's not what the movie is about." However, Cruise told Sloan that they needed to demonstrate to the German government that they were being historically accurate. It helped win the German's over, despite the blog scorn.
On "The Hobbit":
Sloan had a four-hour dinner with Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, where they laid out their vision for the dual-film prequel. "They knew every scene, every moment. We knew we had to do it with them."
On another "Rocky":
Parent said Stallone came to them with another idea. Parent looked into the audience: "We should take a vote. Whose interested in another 'Rocky'?"Panel photo by John Shearer/WireImage.com
Not many hands went up.
Michael Jones is the film festival editor at Variety.com. 
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