It’s a terrible shock this morning to learn that Brad Grey has died. The former chief of Paramount Pictures was 59, and we all knew him very well. Reports say he had cancer, which was a well kept secret. Condolences to his family and friends.

Brad ran Paramount for 12 years with a lot of success including winner the Best Picture Oscar for Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed.” He had a terrific relationship with Scorsese, distributing “The Wolf of Wall Street” and “Shutter Island.” He had plenty of other hits during those dozen years, and made Paramount a much more hospitable studio than it had been in the past.

Prior to Paramount, Grey was a top tier TV producer. He guided “The Sopranos” and “The Larry Sanders Show” in partnership with the late and legendary Bernie Brillstein, picking up many awards including an Emmy in 2004.

There will be plenty of tributes and messages on Twitter, etc. from Brad’s friends as well as his enemies— frenemies. If cancer hadn’t taken him, which is as cruel as it could be, Brad would have produced hit movies and TV shows for the next twenty years. He was determined, and had great taste. I will miss him.

“King Arthur: Legend of the Sword” will be known as “Legend of the Bored.” Almost no one went, and the result is a $14.7 million weekend.

The Warners movie cost $175 million plus, which could be high as $250 million for promotion, etc. That’s a total write off even with some international box office thrown in. So far there’s about $30 million in the till from foreign audiences.

“King Arthur” is the Hindenburg of the 2017 movie season, and a great disappointment, no doubt, as Time Warner tries to merge with AT&T. If that merger should ever occur, these huge failures won’t be tolerated so well.

Luckily, Warner Bros. has potentially four blockbusters coming — Justice League, Wonder Woman, Dunkirk among them. But this hurts. And it certainly makes Guy Ritchie’s future more questionable with a “Man from UNCLE” sequel being discussed (I don’t know why) and more Sherlock Holmes films with Robert Downey Jr. a possibility. Ritchie may need a time out after this debacle.

The next big blockbuster release is Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean 5” due on Memorial Day weekend. There are many questions about Johnny Depp’s viability after all his bad press, not to mention the aging of the franchise. Disney, thriving with Marvel, animation and Pixar, can just shrug it off if P5 doesn’t work.

“King Arthur” arrived and died in one fell swoop. The $175 million Warner Bros. swashbuckler from Guy Ritchie took in $5.3 million from Thursday night previews and Friday night audiences. A $15 million weekend ($18 million on the high side seems a lofty ambition) points to a total write off. Maybe international audiences will help. But not by much.

Ritchie is an ambitious filmmaker whose work is hit or miss. His “Sherlock Holmes” movie are hits. The rest are not, at least since his initial hits years ago with “Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels,” and “Snatch.” His more recent “Man from UNCLE” was a flop financially and editorially. I’ve been seeing weird remarks on Twitter that there should be an “UNCLE” sequel. No no no. Please, no. 

Ritchie’s biggest flop was with ex wife Madonna on “Swept Away.” A new “Sherlock” Movie should set things right. Meanwhile Warner Bros. writes off $150-$175 million. They have four blockbusters coming this year.

When I first wrote about this movie directed by Martin Scorsese, starring Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci and now Bobby Cannavale, it was called “I Heard You Paint Houses.”

Along the way, it was retitled “The Irishman.”

But now, with pre-production starting up, the movie that is most anticipated will be known again as “I Heard You Paint Houses.” I’m told Robert De Niro asked for the change back, and since he’s a co-producer, it’s going to happen.

Those were the first words Jimmy Hoffa uttered to hit man Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran. “To paint a house” meant to kill a guy, with the blood and guts being the paint. Charles Brandt wrote the book of that name based on hours and hours of taped interviews with Sheehan. No one’s reading this book right now, but it’s an amazon. Let’s all get cracking. And look out for the fall of 2018.

I broke the story SEVEN years ago.