« Samouraï rising: Peter Webber's teen dream | Main | Idi Amin haha: Last King a hit in Kampala »
February 19, 2007
Coma baby lives: New Line's Shaye daze
A few days before the release of Number 23, another New Line release getting surly early reviews, NYTimes' Sharon Waxman's fed an exclusive by New Line, 
with founder-topper Robert Shaye describing the distraction of having been in a medical coma for six weeks in 2005, stricken with a lethal form of pneumonia similar to what killed Jim Henson; directing kiddiepic The Last Mimzy in the past year, and getting into litigious spitball with Lord of Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson. The 67-year-old executive was out for six weeks, "in a coma in a New York City hospital, fending off death from a sudden infection... over many months quietly made his way back to health... Mr. Shaye’s illness, the seriousness of which was not disclosed to the public before now, apparently derailed the studio for a portion of 2005 and affected the slate in 2006. And last year he took time to direct his own movie... “After last year I will take a more considered approach to the green-light process... I will act as more of an adversary, or critic, of the decisions advocated by others.. It’s difficult to explain, but I have a clarity of thought... which was one of the gifts” of his illness... I certainly appreciate the normal functioning of life a lot more.” Waxman points out that Shaye's temper still gets the best of him, especially in the spat over profits with Jackson. "Mr. Shaye said that he made the statement “in a moment of emotion” but did not regret it."
Posted by Ray Pride at February 19, 2007 02:07 PM
Comments
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)