Courtney Valenti is in talks for a leadership film position at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, now under ownership of Amazon.
The development comes after five months of speculation regarding MGM targeting Valenti, a seasoned production executive with decent talent relationships. Valenti exited her role as president of production and development for Warner Bros. Pictures in October 2022. Her departure from Warner Bros. marked the end of a 33-year long tenure at the studio.
Since Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy vacated MGM’s film leadership positions last spring (there soon after taking over as co-chairs of Warner Bros. Picture Group), Amazon has undertaken an ongoing search for a steward of the iconic entertainment banner.
Other individuals familiar with the talks have stated that a deal between Valenti and MGM is far from complete.
Amazon declined to comment for this story. Valenti did not immediately respond for comment.
As president of production and development at Warner Bros. Pictures, Valenti oversaw development teams and budget for both live-action and animated projects. She was responsible for shepherding upcoming films such as Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie,” George Miller’s “Mad Max” spinoff “Furiosa” and the musical adaptation of “The Color Purple” produced by Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey. Valenti was also a key force in the resurgence of animated features at Warner Bros., developing titles such as “The Lego Movie” and “Happy Feet.” Other notable projects include the final four “Harry Potter” films, Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby,” “Mad Max: Fury Road” and “The Intern.”
Deadline was first to report news of Valenti being in talks with MGM and Amazon.
Matt Donnelly contributed to this report.