Brian Witten has been named president of Heavy Metal, the media company that began life as the venerable fantasy magazine.
Witten will oversee the film and television business of Heavy Metal and elements of the music and online publishing divisions.
One of Witten’s first acts will be at Comic-Con in San Diego for Heavy Metal’s panel detailing its ambitious future.
A former production executive at New Line and Paramount, Witten more recently has been acting as an independent producer.
He produced the adaptation of Stephen King’s Cell with Samuel L. Jackson and John Cusack, which is set to be released later this year.
Witten has deep comic book roots traced back to the early 1990s when he partnered with Image Comics co-founder Rob Liefeld and the artist’s Extreme Studios.
