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That makes him the project's second big casualty after ace producer Scott Rudin quit late last year following bruising budget battles with Paramount Pictures.
Since then, the studio brought aboard DreamWorks as a production partner. Unfortunately (for Sonnenfeld, that is) Sonnenfeld does not get along with DreamWorks production chief, Walter Parkes. This seems to have started on 'Men in Black II' which they both worked upon.
However despite their mutual disdain, sources said Sonnenfeld still expected to be the film's director until his representatives were informed the studios would be replacing him.
'Snicket' is Sonnenfeld's favourite book, and he hung in when Paramount asked for cuts in the budget and in the compensation of the principal players. That prompted Rudin's exit and the arrival of DreamWorks.
Sonnenfeld would not comment on his exit, but when Rudin quit, the director acknowledged that Paramount's risk-averse executives got very tough on a film whose budget was a shade under $100 million at the time.
About $9 million was saved by moving a Gotham shoot to Wilmington, N.C., but Paramount wanted an additional cut of $5 million. The director favoured taking a break to allow author and screenwriter Daniel Handler to lose some of the pricier pages so that Paramount's dollar demands could be met.
Jim Carrey is still aboard as the film's star, subject to Paramount and DreamWorks hiring a new director to his liking. Paramount will retain domestic distribution territories while DreamWorks takes foreign.
DreamWorks is also expected to take the creative lead, as co-founder Steven Spielberg and his lieutenants are more adept at managing special effects-heavy franchise spectacles for the half-pint set than Paramount.
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