Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment exiting Paramount Pictures

Brad Pitt’s film company, Plan B Entertainment, has signed a production deal with New Regency and RatPac Entertainment -- an arrangement that precipitates his company’s departure from Paramount Pictures at the end of the year.

The pact takes one of Hollywood’s hottest and best-known production banners away from the Viacom Inc.-owned studio and aligns it with crosstown rival 20th Century Fox.

Plan B’s first-look deal with Paramount expires Dec. 31. The production company has been based at the studio since 2005.

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New Regency and RatPac will finance future projects from Plan B as part of a multi-year, overall deal, New Regency said in a statement Tuesday night. The company is based on the 20th Century Fox lot and has a long-term distribution arrangement with the studio.

RatPac, the film finance vehicle of filmmaker Brett Ratner and Australian businessman James Packer, will have the opportunity to co-finance projects from Plan B that are in development at New Regency.

New Regency already has a relationship with Pitt and his company, having co-financed and co-produced Plan B’s recent success, “12 Years a Slave.� The companies also are working on “True Story,� a crime drama that stars Jonah Hill and James Franco. That project, to be released by 20th Century Fox, recently wrapped production.

New Regency Chief Executive Brad Weston praised Plan B in an interview with The Times.

“We had a great experience with Plan B on ‘Twelve Years a Slave’ and next year’s ‘True Story’ and we really like each other,� said Weston, also New Regency’s president. “It was a really organic outgrowth of a great relationship.�

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Plan B said in a statement that the arrangement with New Regency and RatPac is a “perfect fit.� New Regency was founded by billionaire producer Arnon Milchan, who serves as its chairman.

At Paramount, Pitt’s company made this past summer’s zombie thriller, “World War Z,� which grossed $540 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo. The expensive Marc Forster-directed movie, which starred Pitt, suffered from production issues, and required reshoots.

The A-list star will continue to have a relationship with Paramount: The studio is moving forward with Pitt’s “World War Z� sequel, which “The Impossible� director Juan Antonio Bayona would direct.

Paramount declined to comment.

Pitt formed Plan B in 2002 with then-wife Jennifer Aniston. He has long had a close relationship with Brad Grey, the chairman and chief executive of Paramount.

“World War Z� is by far the highest-profile movie made by Plan B that Paramount released.

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Plan B produced the comedy “Year of the Dog� and the thriller “A Mighty Heart� for Paramount’s specialty film division Paramount Vantage. Both movies came out in 2007, with “Year of the Dog� taking in $1.6 million worldwide and “A Mighty Heart� topping out at $18.9 million.

However, Plan B found major success at other studios. Among the successes that Paramount missed out on were “Kick-Ass,� which was released in 2010 by Lions Gate Entertainment and grossed $96 million worldwide; the prestige picture “The Tree of Life,� which was directed by Terrence Malick and released by Fox Searchlight Pictures; and “12 Years a Slave,� an Oscar contender that also was distributed by Fox Searchlight.

“12 Years a Slave� has been a source of friction between Paramount and Plan B. The drama has been a critical and commercial hit, grossing more than $35 million worldwide, but Paramount didn’t get an opportunity to distribute it, according to a studio source with knowledge of the matter who was not authorized to comment publicly.

Paramount believes, according to this person, that Plan B violated its deal with the studio by not offering it a chance to distribute the picture, which was released in October.

New Regency declined to comment about the “12 Years a Slave� matter. Plan B did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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It has been a busy few days for Paramount, which has lost one top-tier producer, but gained another. On Dec. 6, the studio announced it had inked a first-look deal with producer Jerry Bruckheimer.

As part of that three-year pact, Bruckheimer will produce “Top Gun 2� and a “Beverly Hills Cop� picture for the studio.

Plan B’s deal with New Regency and RatPac is the last company’s second high-profile film financing accord in recent months.

In September, Warner Bros. Pictures struck a financing deal with RatPac-Dune Entertainment LLC, a new entity formed by Dune Entertainnment’s Steven Mnuchin and RatPac.

RatPac’s Ratner directed the “Rush Hour� trilogy and is making “Hercules: The Thracian Wars� for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and Paramount. Packer is the chairman of Crown Ltd., a hospitality and entertainment company based in Melbourne.

“Plan B has become a consistent supplier of top-tier material and talent. As a new company, for us to be able to partner with Arnon and his team at New Regency on this deal, it gives us a great jump-start for what we are trying to accomplish,� Packer and Ratner said in a statement.

Plan B’s impending departure from Paramount was first reported Tuesday by the Hollywood Reporter.

Staff writer John Horn contributed to this report.

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