Sharon Waxman over at The Wrap has written another doomsday piece about the Weinstein Company, the type that were pretty prevalent last year when “The Reader” was threatening to be a nonstarter. Essentially, there are whispers that the Weinsteins have run through their entire $1.2 billion loan given to them at the start of their company, without a single real hit movie to show for it. Rumors suggest it’s gotten so bad that the company, currently debuting their pricey co-production at Cannes “Inglorious Basterds,” might not have enough capital to promote and release the shelved Michael Cera comedy “Youth In Revolt.”
Are these predictions premature? On one level, the Weinsteins did end up profiting nicely from “The Reader”‘s Oscar run, and they’re poised to score a big hit this fall with the musical “Nine,” the trailer debut of which earlier this week struck some as strategic in order to curb these end-of-days predictions. And while many point to the company losing a whole lot of dough over “Grindhouse,” the decision to split the movies in two for DVD release has to in some way brought back a serious return on what was probably a questionable commercial endeavor.
But then there are the non-academic theories- how much did it cost to get “The Reader” into the awards circle for its dubious run? Why did “Nine” cost $85 million when the trailer made the Broadway adaptation look like it was filmed entirely on the same two sets? Why does stuff like “Youth In Revolt,” an interesting adaptation of the popular YA novel from Miguel Arteta (“The Good Girl”), and Mickael Hafstrom’s “Shanghai” languish on their schedule with no release date? And is there any truth to the rumor that “Sin City 2” was being shopped by the cash-strapped brothers?
Whatever it is, the Weinsteins still look to be in better shape than they were at this time last year. Their much-troubled adaptation of “The Road” recently debuted a cynical cash-grab of a trailer geared towards the cheap seats, but it remains a popular book with more than its share of fans, while potential genre hits like “Basterds” and “Halloween 2” loom on the horizon, with “Nine” most likely a big awards candidate. And the Weinstein Company had enough cheddar to acquire the rights to the soon-to-shoot drama “The Fighter,” a boxing drama with Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale from director David O. Russell. Then again, none of these are sure things, and the failure of August’s release of “Basterds,” some feel, might doom the company and cripple the fall release slate. In the past year, this happened to the prestigious, promising Yari Group, which stranded a couple of middle-profile releases in direct-to-DVD limbo, but the Weinsteins, sly dogs they are, surely have a Hail Mary up their sleeve, right? We’d assume it’s not Russell, who, last we checked, had some difficult finishing movies of his own.
I’m a little lost. What happend to Aronofsky directing The Fighter?
Aronofsky has since moved on, and O. Russell signed on for it a couple of months ago.
I’d like to ask what happened / is happening with All Good Things: directed by Andrew Jarecki and starring Ryan Gosling, Kirsten Dunst, Frank Langella, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
IMDB says it’s coming out in late July, but here it is almost June, and there basically has been not one word about it. I mean, it’s not even on the WC’s company website. They run out of bandwith money, too?
Everyone’s wondering what happened to Jarkecki’s film. I think it’s more that TWC’s not sure what to do with the film than a money problem cause that one’s been done for a while I believe.
@Tristan, In April, , O. Russell took over for Aronofsky who had dropped out for reasons that were disclosed by the trades (he gave up after years of trying and moved onto something else?
Brad Pitt dropped out of the project in October 2008, which probably made the project less enticing for Aronofsky and perhaps had something to do with his departure. Either that or a window of when this thing had to be shot was affixed and Darren thought he wouldn’t be ready then.
O. Russell, who is more and more looking like a hired gun these days (see all of his new projects, perhaps he’s trying reprove his worth), probably felt like he could step in and do the job as it wasn’t a personal project for him.
Christian Bale has since stepped in to Pitt’s role and this movie could be all kinds of awesome.
Anyone who has skepticism of O. Russell directing a gritty boxing film over Aronofsky should not forget the excellent work he did on Three Kings, easily his best and most dynamic film to date.
Did I miss something? Shanghai is scheduled to be released on September 4, and Youth in Revolt on October 30. Many movie sites have listed the release dates. Is there anything wrong?