Is Disney’s magic well dry? Since July, when Walt Disney Pictures made former marketing chief Oren Aviv its head of live-action production, the greenlight process at the studio has virtually ground to a halt. Several industry sources say that since Aviv took over, the only project he’s given the go-ahead to is National Treasure 2—though some say his predecessor, Nina Jacobson, moved it into production, meaning Aviv has greenlit nothing. (Aviv had the idea that became National Treasure; he receives an executive-producer credit on that film and its sequel.) “It’s sort of a sign of the future,” says one source who worked with Aviv in his marketing days. “Movie companies no longer making movies.” A Disney spokeswoman calls the no-greenlight claim “completely untrue,” insisting that Aviv, who had little prior film-production experience, has greenlit four films during his tenure—though the studio would not name those movies. “When we want the press to know,” the spokeswoman says, “we will announce them.”
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