Donald DeLine, president of Touchstone Pictures, a division of the Walt Disney Company, is expected to resign his post within the next few months, executives at Disney said tonight.
Mr. DeLine oversaw the production of such current Disney films as ''The Horse Whisperer'' as well hit movies like ''Pretty Woman,'' ''Sister Act,'' ''Con Air,'' ''Phenomenon'' and ''Ransom.'' His coming films include Jonathan Demme's ''Beloved,'' Steven Zaillian's ''A Civil Action,'' starring John Travolta and Tony Scott's ''Enemy of the State'' with Will Smith. Mr. DeLine, who is 39 and worked at Disney for 13 years, is expected to move to another studio as a top executive, or set up a film production company.
Disney's movie side is, essentially, divided into three branches: animation; Walt Disney Pictures, which are children's live-action films, and Touchstone Pictures.
Mr. DeLine declined to comment on his plans.
Disney executives said that Mr. DeLine had recently told Joe Roth, the chairman of the studio, that he wanted to leave. Mr. Roth accepted the decision, largely because Disney was intent on curtailing its output of films and was planning to limit the number of movies aimed at adult audiences that the studio would release in the future.
Unlike other studios, Disney is now planning to center its efforts on the potentially lucrative animation and children's film market, executives said.
Although Disney still plans to release nonchildren's films, the number of these movies will diminish.
It is unclear if Disney will maintain the Touchstone label once Mr. DeLine departs. There was speculation at Disney that David Vogel, president of Walt Disney Pictures, the nonanimated division that focuses on children's films like ''George of the Jungle'' and ''Mr. Magoo'' will take over some of Mr. DeLine's responisibilities.