Former Warner Bros. President of Sales and Distribution, D. Barry Reardon, passed at the age of 92 on May 27 in Vero Beach, Florida.
Known as “The Dean of Distribution” among industry peers and filmmakers, Reardon was the head of theatrical distribution at Warner Bros from 1978 to 1999, and was known for breaking the mold on the motion picture business, i.e.
getting a jumpstart on summer before Memorial Day (read, Twister in 1996 opening in mid-May in advance of Paramount’s Tom Cruise juggernaut, Mission: Impossible) and dating blockbusters during the early days of August, previously considered a dead zone (i.e.
Clint Eastwood’s ultimate Oscar Best Picture winner, Unforgiven, in 1992, and the Harrison Ford hit, The Fugitive, in 1993 — the latter dating maneuver that pic’s late producer Arnold Kopelson told the L.A.
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