Okay, so you’ve just spent hundreds of millions buying a library of films. What are you going to do next? That’s the question the new owners of Miramax have been asking, and while initially it was suggested they’d concentrate on the back catalogue and only make one or two pics a year, they seem to have realised that in order to keep the value of that back catalogue from slipping, they need to find new ways to exploit it.
The obvious answer is sequels, but there’s been a slight problem with that. While the Weinstein brothers left the rights to the individual Miramax movies behind when they left, they took with them the right to approve any sequels made of them. While at first that seemed like it might be a stumbling block, Miramax and The Weinstein Company have now announced a joint venture to create sequels to some of Miramax’s best-known properties and to partner on potential new television shows and special edition home entertainment products. It’s great news for both companies, as it should give them more power in an industry dominated by a few major studios.
Already in the works are sequels to Bad Santa and Rounders – both of which have been talked about for a long time, but may now actually happen, as well as a follow-up to Best Picture winner Shakespeare In Love. The press release also says ‘The other potential sequels and TV projects are Bridget Joness Diary, Copland, From Dusk Till Dawn, Swingers, Clerks, Shall We Dance, and The Amityville Horror. This partnership augments an existing relationship between the companies on such franchises as Scream 4 (to be released April 15, 2011), Spy Kids 4 (to be released August 19, 2011) and Scary Movie 5.’
They’ve also agreed to work together on Special Edition Blu-ray releases of Miramax titles. However it should be noted, that while a deal seems to have been signed, currently this is more a statement of intent, as it’s unlikely all those films will come off, and there’s little info on how far along any of them are, or if they purely exist in idea form at the moment.
That said, there are probably quite a few people who’d like to see continuations of the lies of Copland and Rounders, so we’ll have to cross our fingers. (Via /Film)