Updated, 12:47 p.m. ET
Wesley Morris will leave his post as film critic for the Boston Globe to write full time for Grantland.
His exit is a blow to the Globe's arts section. Morris has a loose, jazzy style, a virtuoso feel for adjectives and a passion for film history. He earned a Pulitzer Prize in 2012 with the awards committee hailing his "…pinpoint prose and an easy traverse between the art house and the big-screen box office."
Morris told TheWrap that he will be writing film reviews for Grantland, where he currently has a blog on the ESPN-owned site that tackles sports style.
"I'm sad to leave the newsroom and hallways of the Globe," Morris said in an email to TheWrap. "I'll miss my colleagues, but not too terribly since many of them are also friends. Grantland, meanwhile, is an exciting place to try longer, more extensive criticism on a range of subjects, but mainly movies and style in sports."
In a note to Globe staff obtained by Romanesko, Globe features editor Doug Most praised Morris' contribution to the paper and his personal attributes.
"For a moment, forget about the writing," Most wrote. "The superb, brilliant writing. Wesley’s presence in our world has been about so much more than just his wonderful film criticism and insightful takes on pop culture. Wesley is a true friend to so many of us. We love him for his infectious sense of humor, his generous heart, and of course his marvelously snappy sense of fashion, as he bounds in from the Red Line wearing one of his many stylish caps."
He's shared reviewing duties with the Globe's Ty Burr for a decade and previously worked as a critic for the San Francisco Examiner and the San Francisco Chronicle.
Launched in 2011 by sports columnist Bill Simmons, Grantland has snagged an impressive roster of contributors including videogame expert Tom Bissell and author Chuck Klosterman. Morris told TheWrap he was excited to help the site grow and expand its cultural coverage.
"Bill Simmons and the executive editor Dan Fierman are shrewd, open-minded thinkers who sense that the possibilities for the site are pretty limitless and that's exciting, too," Morris said.
