Erik Lomis, the admired distribution executive who handled countless blockbusters and Oscar winners during his three-decade Hollywood career, died suddenly at his Santa Monica home on Wednesday. He was 64.
As MGM’s head of distribution, Lomis helped parent company Amazon Studios prepare for the release of am Affleck‘s Skywhich hits theaters on April 5. Amazon recently signed Lomis to a new deal following its official acquisition of the legendary movie studio.
Lomis watched over the box office like a hawk and was known for his detailed notes that analyzed the theater setup each weekend.
The Philadelphia native worked at MGM from 1993 to 2011 and left as president of global distribution after strategizing films like Legally blonde (2001), barbershop (2002) and the James Bond movies Golden Eye (1995), Tomorrow never dies (1997), The world is not enough (1999) and Die another day (2002).
He joined The Weinstein Co. and served as president of worldwide theater distribution, home entertainment and acquisitions until 2016, leading releases such as The artist (2011), The iron lady (2011), Silver Linings Playbook (2012), Django unleashed (2012), The imitation game (2014) and The Hateful Eight (2015).
Lomis launched a distribution division and a marketing division in the theatre Megan Ellison‘s Annapurna Pictures in 2016 (he covered the 2018 movies Shame And If Beale Street could talk there) before moving in 2019 to United Artists Releasing, the joint venture of MGM and Annapurna that rolled out No time to die (2021) during the immense challenges of COVID-19.
MGM acquired UAR after Amazon’s purchase, and Lomis recently spearheaded the releases of the Best Picture Oscar nominee Women talk And Creed III.
Along the way, he nurtured long-standing relationships with such filmmakers as Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, Sylvester Stallone, Irwin Winkler, and Ryan Coogler.
Born on November 21, 1958, Lomis began his career in film during his teens when he worked as a film introducer after school. He served as lead movie buyer for the Philadelphia-based Sameric Theaters and was there when the original Star Wars hit the big screen in 1977.
“Many older boys have thought about it in the months leading up to the opening Star Wars like a kid’s movie,” he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2015. “The cast meant nothing, and nobody knew who George Lucas was. [At Sameric]we thought we were being hosed down because the competition got the big ‘A track’ pic, The other side of midnight.”
He then headed the national motion picture division of United Artists Theaters, the nation’s largest exhibition chain.
Though ultimately disappointed, Lomis had a rewarding month as a huge fan of the Philadelphia Phillies and Eagles over the past few months, and was thrilled to attend the Super Bowl in Arizona last month.
Survivors include his wife, Patricia Laucella, executive vice president of business and legal affairs at Lionsgate; his children, Natalia, Nicole Rose and Zach; his stepmother, Joanne; his sister Sandy; and his brother Carl.