AP PhotoRichard Roeper has given two thumbs down—and two weeks' notice—to a contract offer for his stalwart movie review show.
After being unable to agree to terms to renew his contract with show producers, the Chicago Sun-Times columnist announced plans to leave At the Movies With Ebert & Roeper after eight seasons cohosting with Roger Ebert.
Roeper's last flick of the thumb will come the weekend of Aug. 16-17. The following week, At the Movies will be in the unprecedented predicament of being without either of its titular critics.
"Several months ago, Disney offered to extend my contract, which expires at the conclusion of the 2007-08 season," Roeper said. "I opted to wait. Much transpired after that behind the scenes, but an agreement was never reached, and we are all moving on."
The camera-friendly critic said his days of televised film deconstruction are far from behind him and that he has every intention to "proceed elsewhere...as the cohost of a movie review show that honors the standards established by Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert more than 30 years ago."
As for the where and with who, "I will be free to share the details on that program in the near future."
Roeper says he harbors no ill will for the At the Movies producers and wishes them "the best of luck with their new show, whatever form it may take."
Whatever form indeed.
Roeper partnered up with Ebert back in 2000, following the death of original cohost Siskel. But Roeper has been the sole regular host for the better part of the past two years, navigating the program through a series of rotating guest critics, including Kevin Smith and Jay Leno, as Ebert was sidelined.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning critic was forced to take an extended leave from the show after being diagnosed with thryoid cancer. Ebert revealed earlier this year that he had lost the use of his voice, but not his pen, and has resumed writing, albeit at a less frantic pace than his original output, movie reviews for the Sun-Times.