MGM dropped Kevin Smith's controversial (well, it had a controversial poster) feature, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, from their fall lineup and back into the lap of Harvey Weinstein and Co., despite a contract saying that the lion studios would continue distributing Weinstein films until January. MGM already pulled their logo from the stick figure posters and the trailer for the film, slated to open Oct. 31st.
Super annoying, because the brothers Weinstein are already up to their eyeballs trying to finance their own films, let alone get distribution on them. Pain in the ass MGM decided to reneg on Porno, either because of the flack it already received from the MPAA, or because they are having enough budget problems of their own with United Artists, which the studio co-owns with Tom Cruise, of all people.
United Artists was promised $500 million dollars by Merrill Lynch before the banks began to tank, and as late as last week MGM said the money would be available to UA no matter what. But with this economy, who knows.
Or the third option for why the studio dropped the Seth Rogan/Elizabeth Banks feature, as well as Academy contenders The Road and Reader, back on the Weinsteins:
MGM wanted to stick it to Harvey, with whom the studio has had a "acrimonious" relationship with in the past.
So sorry Harvey, MGM has its own kids to think about. Looks like you and your company of five billion are on your own.
Editorial Director
So… Did you just wholesale copy this article from Defamer? Nice work.
The foundation of the MGM/Weinstein distrib deal was never about any money MGM would put into marketing (it was a negligible sum at best); it was always SOLELY about the pre-negotiated Showtime cable sale numbers. Cable sales for films ain't what they used to be, since HBO and Showtime started earning more subscriptions off original programming. And under Disney (as Miramax), those pre-sale numbers were always in place. But the Weinstein Co. didn't have a pre-negotiated cable deal when they opened shop, so they needed to get in bed with a company that did, or end up selling their films to HBO and Showtime for comparative peanuts. Enter MGM - with pre-negotiated slots for movies they'd never make. Deal was cooked up by Rick Sands when he was running MGM - the same Rick Sands who handled foreign sales for Harvey for years at Miramax. WC pays a small handling fee to MGM for theatrical, and in turn, WC gets a pre-negotiated cable sale that's worth much, much more than they could've gotten independently. Everyone wins. Assuming that MGM put in substantial marketing dollars into any Weinstein Company release is akin to assuming Jossip writes its own articles and doesn't just steal them from Defamer.
Then, this happened… http://www.comingsoon.net/news.....p?id=46855
WC made their own pre-negotiated cable sale Showtime deal, negating the buffer that was MGM. Long story short, MGM didn't dump anything. Weinstein Co. started taking stuff back. How does one arrive at this (easily verifiable) conclusion? Do you really think that MGM wouldn't want to be involved with Zach and Miri Make a Porno? It stars the hottest comedy star on the planet, was produced for well under 30 mil, and is getting great reviews, most of which predict its box office success. Yeah - if I was running a down-and-out studio, I'd wanna get as far away from THAT one as I could.
All of the information included in this article was easily found through Google searches. Including just this morning…
http://www.variety.com/article.....3&cs=1
And since Defamer (your "source" for this story) won't run my comment, I'll run it here, too.
As per usual, Stu Vanairsdale would have you believe he's got the goods on Harvey, and as per usual, he proves to be as "inside" as the guy who reviewed movies for the high school paper that publishes bi-monthly.
The foundation of the MGM/Weinstein distrib deal was never about any money MGM would put into marketing (it was a negligible sum at best); it was always SOLELY about the pre-negotiated Showtime cable sale numbers. Cable sales for films ain't what they used to be, since HBO and Showtime started earning more subscriptions off original programming. And under Disney (as Miramax), those pre-sale numbers were always in place. But the Weinstein Co. didn't have a pre-negotiated cable deal when they opened shop, so they needed to get in bed with a company that did, or end up selling their films to HBO and Showtime for comparative peanuts. Enter MGM - with pre-negotiated slots for movies they'd never make. Deal was cooked up by Rick Sands when he was running MGM - the same Rick Sands who handled foreign sales for Harvey for years at Miramax. WC pays a small handling fee to MGM for theatrical, and in turn, WC gets a pre-negotiated cable sale that's worth much, much more than they could've gotten independently. Everyone wins. Assuming that MGM put in substantial marketing dollars into any Weinstein Company release is akin to assuming VanAssDale wrote an accurate article.
Then, this happened… http://www.comingsoon.net/news.....p?id=46855
WC made their own pre-negotiated cable sale Showtime deal, negating the buffer that was MGM. Long story short, MGM didn't dump anything. Weinstein Co. started taking stuff back. How does one arrive at this (easily verifiable) conclusion? Do you really think that MGM wouldn't want to be involved with Zach and Miri Make a Porno? It stars the hottest comedy star on the planet, was produced for well under 30 mil, and is getting great reviews, most of which predict its box office success. Yeah - if I was running a down-and-out studio, I'd wanna get as far away from THAT one as I could. Defamer?
Can I have VanCluelessDale's job covering Weinstein Company? This guy stinks at it.
All of the information included in this article was easily found through Google searches - as recently as this morning, even… http://www.variety.com/article.....3&cs=1
Does VanDownByTheRiverDale not even have so much as a dial-up modem? And why won't you publish MY comment, Defamer? You publish woefully pithy, unfunny comments regularly; how about publishing a comment that actually has insight into VanHacksDale's fictionalized story instead of armchair industry analysis from this desperate, Nikki Finke wannabe.
Sorry Jossip Girl, didn't read the Defamer article. Maybe great minds think alike? :-)