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вЂњItвЂ™s a growing and global business,вЂќ he said. вЂњWe realized thatвЂ™s something we needed to do.вЂќДЄlthough Sony has traditionally relied upon big franchises like вЂњSpider-ManвЂќ or star-driven movies with Will Smith and Adam Sandler to win over audiences, Lynton said animated movies like вЂњCloudy With a Chance of MeatballsвЂќ were an integral part of the studioвЂ™s new strategy to develop more family-oriented movies. вЂњWe face stiff competition from people like DreamWorks and Pixar, and in all of those instances you see the whole studio get behind the movies,вЂќ he said. In a departure from past practice, the two attend weekly meetings with the animation executives. вЂњAnimation is something thatвЂ™s relatively new to us,вЂќ he said.Д«ut Lynton said the new management team was communicating more closely with him and Sony Pictures co-Chairwoman Amy Pascal. Michael Lynton, chairman of Sony Pictures, attributed the divisionвЂ™s problems to the growing pains associated with launching a new studio. Tensions also arose between SonyвЂ™s visual-effects unit, Imageworks, and the animation division. Osher replaced Yair Landau, who left after clashing with executives at Sony and the two former DreamWorks executives he tapped to run the division, Penny Finkelman Cox and Sandra Rabins. (Studio executives said вЂњSurfвЂ™s UpвЂќ was hurt by audience fatigue with a surfeit of movies featuring penguins that preceded it.)ДЄmid concerns that the division was operating too autonomously from the parent studio, Sony Pictures last year installed new management.Д«ob Osher, chief operating officer with SonyвЂ™s Columbia Pictures Motion Picture Group, was tapped to head the studioвЂ™s digital production division, and Hannah Minghella, daughter of the late filmmaker Anthony Minghella, was put in charge of production for the animation unit. Its second movie, вЂњSurfвЂ™s Up,вЂќ despite a disappointing performance at the box office, nonetheless earned an Academy Award nomination for best animated film. SonyвЂ™s first computer-animated effort, вЂњOpen Season,вЂќ was only moderately profitable, and the filmвЂ™s 2008 sequel was released in only a few foreign markets and went directly to DVD in North America.

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It earned $667 million in overseas ticket sales, making it the third-highest-grossing film ever outside the U.S.ДЄlthough expectations for вЂњCloudyвЂќ are considerably more muted, the movie nonetheless вЂњis important because needs to establish their credibility as a force in the animation industry,вЂќ said Steve Hulett, business representative for the Animation Guild, which represents animators at Sony and other studios. Higher 3-D ticket prices helped deliver huge business for вЂњIce Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs,вЂќ the third installment of FoxвЂ™s movie series. Interest in the genre has been spurred further by the potential upside from 3-D screenings. But in recent years computer-animated movies have become gold mines for the studios because they frequently attract broad-based audiences both in the U.S. ItвЂ™s a segment of the movie business in which Sony, with rare exceptions, has never been much of a player. Seven years after launching its animation unit, Sony Pictures is still trying to find its footing in a fiercely competitive environment dominated by more established studios in family entertainment, notably Walt Disney Co.'s Pixar Animation Studios, DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. ItвЂ™s the first major computer-animated release from Sony since the 2007 box-office flop вЂњSurfвЂ™s UpвЂќ and signals the studioвЂ™s latest attempt to enter the lucrative market for family movies. The $100-million-budget picture, adapted from the 1978 childrenвЂ™s favorite storybook about a town where it snows mashed potatoes and rains fruit juice, opens today in 3,120 theaters. Sony Pictures hopes вЂњCloudy With a Chance of MeatballsвЂќ forecasts a sunny future for its animation business.