The ongoing mess for Sony Pictures — caused by the mega-cyber attack on the film studio — got even worse Tuesday as a series of ugly email messages were leaked.
Among it all was a very nasty exchange between the studio’s co-chairman Amy Pascal and high-profile producer Scott Rudin, in which Rudin made rude cracks about a series of well-known personalities, including Angelina Jolie and financier Megan Ellison, the daughter of Oracle founder Larry Ellison.
The Pascal-Rudin exchange was mostly about the upcoming film about Steve Jobs, being written by Aaron Sorkin. According to the emails, Jolie opposed David Fincher directing “Jobs” instead of her remake of “Cleopatra.” Pascal requested Rudin, a “Jobs” producer, step in and talk to Jolie about it all, but Rudin refused, claiming it would be a waste of his time. He also told Pascal to “shut Angie down before she makes it very hard for David to do ‘Jobs’ ” — adding that he was against the idea of Jolie’s “Cleopatra” movie, calling the Oscar-winning actress “a minimally talented spoiled brat.”
According to Gawker, Pascal forwarded another rant from Rudin about the “Jobs” movie moving to Universal to a colleague, telling that executive: “Get rid of him.” Rudin is one of Hollywood’s most successful producers, with a resume that includes “The Social Network,” “Moneyball,” “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” “Captain Phillips” and “The Dictator.”
As for Ellison, a Rudin email called her a “bipolar 28-year-old lunatic,” leading Ellison to respond with a humorous twist on Twitter: “28-year-old lunatic? I thought I was more of an eccentric.”
A group calling itself Guardians of Peace has been targeting Sony Pictures since Nov. 24, resulting in the leak of confidential information about executive and star salaries, movie budgets and employees’ personal information. The group also released five new Sony movies on torrent sites, including the upcoming titles “Annie” and “Still Alice.”
A Sony spokesperson declined comment.