Paramount Ends 45-Year Producer Deal With Hollywood Legend Robert Evans

By Matt Donnelly

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Paramount Pictures has ended a creative relationship with one of the iconic executives who put the studio on the map.

Robert Evans served as the president of production at the Hollywood-based company, now owned by Viacom, in the late ’60s and early ’70s and transitioned to a production deal in 1974. That deal has been consistently renewed for over 45 years but recently expired and will be dissolved, a studio spokesperson confirmed.

Evans shepherded some of the most memorable titles to come from Paramount or any studio, including Roman Polanski’s “Rosemary’s Baby,” Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather” and Arthur Hiller’s “Love Story.”

“Bob Evans has been an iconic part of the Paramount legacy for over half a century. His contributions to the studio and film industry have been innumerable,” a Paramount spokesperson said in a statement to Variety. “Today we mark the end of our formal relationship with Bob as a producer, but his legacy will endure in our studio and in our hearts. There aren’t words to express our gratitude and reverence for the man whose name is synonymous with this company and the magic of movies.”

The spokesperson added that a recently refurbished screening room within the Hollywood lot’s Redstone building will be named  for Evans, “so that more generations of film lovers share his passion for great cinema. We wish him the very best.”

A rep for Evans had no immediate comment. The 89-year-old has not made a film since the 2003 rom-com “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” which was distributed by Paramount.