When Disney effectively shut down Miramax late last year, they seemed to think it wouldn’t take long to find a buyer for the name and the company’s catalogue of films. However due to nobody wanting to pay the full $700 million+ asking price and deals that didn’t quite work out, the process has dragged on and on.
A couple of months ago it looked like the Weinstein Brothers, along with a couple of other investors, would take back control of the company they started and through which they changed the face of indie cinema in the 1990s. However due to the complicated provisions necessary in the deal, laregely to do with how Miramax would work in relation to the Weinstein’s new company (simply called The Weinstein Company) and whether they’d acutally be able to fund the purchase, it all fell through.
Then Disney went into negotiations with David Bergstein and his backers. However this set off a firestorm of controversy, as many consider Bergstein to be more than a little dodgy. The CEO of Pegasus Media is currently involved in numerous lawsuits, including involuntary bankruptcy hearings and suggestions he engaged in some underhanded financing to build his empire. Even the Hollywood guilds are said to completely opposed to any Miramax sale involving Bergstein. As a result, the new deal Disney has brokered involves all the same players, but with Bergstein completely out of the picture. Instead his adviser Ron Tutor is leading the bid, along with investment firm Colony Capital, although it seems there are still a few hurdles to jump regarding the financing of the arrangement, as around half of the $650 million purchase price is coming from smaller investors.
Apparently the Weinsteins are waiting in the wings, ready to bid again if this deal falls through, but at the moment THR says a sale to Tutor and co. has been agreed in principle, and they’re just waiting for the money and legalities to be sorted out. If is is concluded, it’s reported the new Miramax will seek to make full use of the back catalogue, as well as looking for ways to use their franchise rights to numerous horror properties, and producing a few films a year.