The Weinstein Company (TWC) is an independent American film studio founded by Harvey and Bob Weinstein in 2005 after the pair left the Disney-owned Miramax Films, which they had co-founded in 1979. The brothers retained ownership of the Dimension Films label of Miramax.
History
Their first releases in 2005 included the dramatic thriller Derailed (starring Jennifer Aniston and Clive Owen), the offbeat comedy-drama Transamerica (starring Felicity Huffman) the computer-animated family film Hoodwinked, the World War II-era comedy-drama Mrs. Henderson Presents (starring Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins) and the caper comedy The Matador (starring Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear).
In March 2006, TWC announced a distribution pact with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.[citation needed] MGM distributed the product domestically in theaters, while TWC will retain long-term ownership of their product.[citation needed]
TWC holds 15% stake of Genius Products, which releases TWC's movies on DVD. [2]
In July 2006, the Weinsteins and Robert L. Johnson announced the creation of a joint venture studio titled Our Stories Films, which will distribute African-American-oriented films. [3]
In late August 2006, it was announced that TWC and co-investors Hubbard Media Group purchased Ovation TV, an arts-focused cable channel [4].
In November 2006, TWC announced a three-year deal with Blockbuster Video to give the video renting company exclusive rights for rentals starting on January 1, 2007. [5]. However, under the First Sale Doctrine of United States copyright law, other rental companies are able to rent copies of the company's movies purchased at retail.[citation needed]
The company is the co-producer, along with Miramax, of the Lifetime reality series Project Runway, which for its first five seasons aired on Bravo.[citation needed]
Some rights to films originally produced by Miramax (under the leadership of the Weinsteins), as well as some films either distributed by or had rights reverted to Miramax now lie with TWC.[citation needed] For example, Genius Products/Weinstein Company Home Entertainment has reissued both released versions of Cinema Paradiso, originally distributed theatrically and on home video by Miramax.[citation needed]
On May 24, 2007, The Weinstein Company announced the launch of three new direct-to-video labels: The Miriam Collection, Kaleidoscope TWC, and Dimension Extreme.[6]
On September 25, 2008, TWC ended its three-year distribution pact with MGM three months before the December 31 end date. This happened in part because TWC had struck a television output deal with Showtime, though not through MGM's output deal with them. During the span of their pact, TWC paid for marketing and prints, while MGM received a distribution fee for booking theaters.[7]
In 2009, TWC might have lost the rights to the movie Sin City 2. The first movie cost only 40 million dollars to make and brought in almost 159 million in box office alone.[8] Weinstein Company lawyer Bert Fields quickly denied this report saying "TWC's rights to produce sequels to Sin City remain intact as they always have been. Any suggestion to the contrary is complete hogwash."[9][10]
In June 2009, The Weinstein Company announced the hiring of a financial adviser to restructure the finances of the company. [11].
Weinstein films
Weinstein releases
- Derailed (2005)
- The Libertine (2005) (First Film of Releases)
- Transamerica (2005)
- Hoodwinked (2005) (The studio's first animated film)
- Mrs. Henderson Presents (2005)
- The Matador (2005)
- Miss Potter (2006)
- Stormbreaker (2006)
- Doogal (2006) (The studio's second animated film)
- Clerks II (2006)
- Pulse (2006)
- Wordplay (2006)
- Shut Up & Sing (2006)
- Border War: The Battle Over Illegal Immigration (2006) (DVD)
- Lassie (2006) (DVD) (theatrically released by Samuel Goldwyn Films)
- Hannibal Rising (2007) (distribution only) (produced by DDLC Dino De Laurentiis Company)
- Sicko (2007, co-distributed with Lionsgate)
- The Hunting Party (2007)
- Farewell Bender (2007)
- Thunderpants (2007) (American distribution)
- Dedication (2007)
- Cassandra's Dream (2007) (distribution only, produced by Wild Bunch and Virtual Studios)
- La Misma Luna (2007) co-production with Creando Films, Fidecine and Potomac Pictures
- The Elite Squad (2008)
- Rogue (2008)
- Rambo (2008, co-production with Lionsgate)
- Diary of the Dead (2008, as Third Rail Releasing)
- Boy A (2008, distribution only, produced by Cuba Pictures for Channel 4)
- Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008)[12]
- The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (TV series) (2008)
- The Reader (2008)
- Fanboys (2009)
- Outlander (2009)[13]
- Tekken (2009, with Summit Entertainment)
- Inglourious Basterds (2009, co production with Universal Pictures and A Band Apart)
- Janky Promoters (2009, as Third Rail Releasing)
|
Dimension releases
Titles distributed by MGM
|
Other films
Upcoming films
Weinstein books
Upon leaving Disney, the Weinsteins reached an agreement to bring over Rob Weisbach, the CEO of their publishing imprint, Miramax Books, to The Weinstein Company. Weisbach would continue to manage all of Miramax Books' existing titles until they were published but would acquire all new titles for Weinstein, while Disney would acquire new titles under their Hyperion imprint.[14]
Weinstein Books published its first book, Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures, on September 4, 2007.[15]
References
External links
