Leonard Goldberg to Set Up Shop at Fox : Hollywood: The move signals an aggressive effort by the studio brass to firm up relationships with more filmmakers.

Independent producer Leonard Goldberg is returning to 20th Century Fox, which he headed from 1987 to 1989, under a newly signed motion picture and television deal.

The addition of Goldberg to the Fox family signals an aggressive effort by Chairman Peter Chernin and production president Tom Jacobson to firm up relationships with filmmakers in order to get more movies into the studio’s pipeline.

For the last 2 1/2 years, Goldberg’s production company has been based at Disney as part of an overall deal with its Hollywood Pictures unit. During his tenure there, he produced the 1992 Eddie Murphy movie “The Distinguished Gentleman,” which grossed $46.5 million domestically, and this year’s “Aspen Extreme,” which took in only $7.9 million.

Goldberg said that Disney Chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg let him out of his three-year contract early to accept the Fox offer. The producer expects to move his company to the studio’s West Los Angeles lot, or to nearby offices, in the next few weeks.

As part of the existing Disney deal, Goldberg has to leave behind two films that his company was developing for the studio: a comedy titled “All Grown Up” and an untitled thriller/mystery, both of which he will produce if they wind up going forward.

The movie expected to kick off the new three-year Fox arrangement is “Waiting for Michael,” a love story to be directed by Jon Avnet and intended to star Meg Ryan and Stephen Rhea, for whom deals are now being finalized.

Goldberg said he hopes to begin production on the picture next spring after Avnet completes “The War.”

Goldberg’s new deal grew out of a relationship with Chernin, for whom he developed and executive produced the short-lived TV series “Class of ‘96” when the studio chief headed Fox Broadcasting Co. When Joe Roth presided over Fox’s movie operation, Goldberg produced the $100-million-plus thriller “Sleeping With the Enemy,” which starred Julia Roberts.

Having initiated his career in TV, Goldberg received three Emmy nominations for the series “Family” and is known for introducing the made-for-TV movie concept as ABC’s head of programming. He is also known for such shows as “The Dating Game” and “Dark Shadows.” As for what Goldberg can contribute to Fox’s big screen endeavors, Chernin said he views the producer as “somebody with great taste” who can “attract a couple of really big classy movies a year to the studio.”

Chernin said he and his team--who took the studio reins from Roth last year--are “anxious to build a structure and relationships with producers, writers and directors who give us access to more pictures.”

With Jacobson’s help, Chernin is aggressively trying to step up development at the studio, which only had 61 projects in the hopper when he assumed control.

Jacobson added that he expects Goldberg “to be an active participant in making movies here and will be very helpful to the studio” in putting projects together.