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New Chairman at Paramount Pictures Faces an Arduous Task

James N. Gianopulos in 2012. Mr. Gianopulos, the consummate Hollywood insider, will take over as chairman of Paramount on April 3.Credit...J. Emilio Flores for The New York Times

LOS ANGELES — Viacom has turned to one of Hollywood’s most seasoned and respected executives, James N. Gianopulos, to revive its faded Paramount Pictures operation.

But some analysts worry that Paramount is already too far gone.

Mr. Gianopulos, who turns 65 in April, will take over as chairman of Paramount on April 3, Viacom said on Monday. Mr. Gianopulos, the consummate Hollywood insider who is treasurer of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, previously ran 20th Century Fox.

Viacom is counting on him to bring immediate stability to Paramount, which has been in free-fall. The studio, which lost $445 million in its last fiscal year, found modest Oscar-season hits in “Fences” and “Arrival.” But it has mostly become a bomb factory, releasing unpopular films like “Silence,” “Allied,” “Ben-Hur,” “Zoolander 2,” “Monster Trucks” and “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi.”

Paramount’s previous chairman, Brad Grey, was ousted in February. The studio’s vice chairman, Rob Moore, was fired in September. Some remaining Paramount leaders are openly hunting for jobs.

Viacom is also betting that Mr. Gianopulos has something to prove. Fox edged him aside as chairman last year, deciding to bring in Stacey Snider, who is younger and whom Fox saw as having stronger creative instincts. Since then, Mr. Gianopulos has been eager to rewrite his Hollywood ending.

But any turnaround at Paramount is years away under the best of circumstances.

In recent Hollywood history, rarely has a major movie studio been in such a shambles. Among other problems, Paramount has suffered from years of severe underinvestment by Viacom and its absentee owner, the ailing Sumner M. Redstone. Missed opportunities to buy source material for event movies — Marvel Entertainment was a partner until Disney snapped it up for $4 billion in 2009 — have left Paramount with a shortage of franchises.

Moreover, the few series that Paramount has are weakening. The last “Transformers” movie, released in 2014, took in 30 percent less in North America than its predecessor. (The next chapter, “Transformers: The Last Knight,” arrives in June.) Paramount’s aging “Star Trek” film series hit a similar snag last year. Its “Mission: Impossible” franchise is anchored by Tom Cruise, and how long he can remain an action star is an open question.

“We don’t think Paramount has enough top-tier intellectual property to successfully dig its way out of the profitability hole it finds itself in,” Doug Creutz, an analyst at Cowen and Company, wrote in a recent report.

Mr. Gianopulos worked at Paramount before. In the mid-1980s, he was the studio’s senior vice president for business affairs and international operations. It was a boom time. In 1986, Paramount had five of the year’s 10 top-selling films at the domestic box office, including “Top Gun,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and “Crocodile Dundee.”

But the movie business has changed substantially. With streaming services like Amazon and Netflix as new competitors for leisure time and movie attendance in the United States flat, studios have veered toward extravagant, effects-driven films that can play on a global stage. Mr. Creutz estimated that 30 movies with budgets of $100 million or more will be released this year, seven more than in 2015.

Paramount has tried to stay in the game by cutting costs and bringing in outside financing partners, including several from China. Some of these deals have proved fruitful. Partnerships with Huahua Media, Shanghai Film Group and Weiying Technology helped push “xXx: The Return of Xander Cage” to $162.5 million in ticket sales in China earlier this year.

But outside investment has also proved problematic. Along with limiting risk, the practice limits returns. It can also lead to major internal distraction: Philippe Dauman, who was forced out as Viacom’s chief executive in August, had considered a partial sale of Paramount to raise money, throwing the studio into chaos for a time.

The ground can also shift quickly: A $1 billion deal with two Chinese firms to cover 25 percent of Paramount’s slate over three years has run into static, although Viacom has insisted the money will ultimately materialize.

Mr. Dauman’s successor, Bob Bakish, has outlined a turnaround plan for Paramount that involves a greater reliance on partnerships with Viacom cable networks like MTV and Nickelodeon. (The problem is that some of those brands have lost much of their cultural relevance.) In a memo to Viacom employees, Mr. Bakish called Mr. Gianopulos “a hugely talented executive, with a strategic vision, strong business expertise and deep industry and creative relationships that are second to none.”

He added that Mr. Gianopulos would have “a running start” because of Paramount teams “who are right now exploring new ways to strengthen the studio and position it for success.” A spokeswoman declined to make Mr. Bakish or Mr. Gianopulos available for interviews.

Despite its challenges, Paramount retains signs of life. The studio’s marketing and publicity departments are considered strong. Mr. Grey started a fledgling television production business that could grow into a profit center. And several coming movies could be hits, including “Ghost in the Shell,” a science-fiction action drama set for release on Friday; and “Baywatch,” a raunchy adaptation of the lifeguard television series.

In some ways, Mr. Gianopulos may take comfort in Paramount’s long-term history: The studio has battled its way back from the brink before.

In the early 1960s, hobbled by cost-cutting and the release of contract players after the forced sale of its theater chain, Paramount was nearly shuttered and sold for the real estate value of its lot. Instead, a new corporate boss, having little to lose, brought in a brash, untested producer — Robert Evans — to run the place. The result was a creative rebirth that led to seminal hits like “The Godfather,” “Rosemary’s Baby” and “Chinatown.”

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section B, Page 6 of the New York edition with the headline: Viacom Picks Old Hand to Rekindle Paramount. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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