Criterion and Miramax

[ianungstad]

While I'm sure Tutor would like to license dvd rights as a lump sum to a company like Lionsgate, I actually think there's little chance of that happening. Lionsgate has been the only mini major actively buying assets, with everyone else scaling back and conserving cash. That being said, there are two major problems that i think will prevent Lionsgate from licensing anything from Miramax:

1) The company is in the midst of a hostile takeover by it's largest shareholder who is pissed off at the companies interest in acquiring fllm librairies, naming MGM and Miramax specifically. This shareholder wants new management and massive cutbacks across the board at Lionsgate if he seizes control of the company.

2) The current managemet has been after MGM for awhile. In an attempt to fend off the hostile takeover, there has been talks about merging with MGM, etc. If current management hasi it's way and acquires MGM, they'll be taking on billions in debt and putting all available cash in the franchises like Bond and The Hobbit etc. I don't seem them having any interest in sinking a bunch of money into Miramax, especially if it doesn't come with the copyrights.

I think there is a good chance that Criterion, Sony and maybe Anchory Bay/Image will divy up the library if tutor wins his bid. Just IMO.

[Finch]

Agreed on Farewell, My Concubine. Add in a Tony Rayns commentary, Leslie Cheung tribute, some historical context on the Chinese opera and maybe Stanley Kwan's contribution to the BFI's Century of Cinema series Yan ± Ying: Gender In Chinese Cinema and that would be an essential package!

That sounds just too good to ever come true, Colin!

[ianungstad]

Apparently it's a done deal, LA Times and Marketwatch are saying the purchase price was $650 million. (Though still no official PR) The LA times article had this tidbit :

For the first year, Walt Disney Studios will distribute its movies until a new distribution operation has been formed.

Let's hope Criterion gets a slice of the pie....either that or I suppose they'll lose Chasing Amy and Chungking Express.

[Matt]

Whatever contract Criterion has for their titles licensed from Miramax would still be valid until the term covered by the contract is over. But I doubt many people would cry over Chasing Amy going OOP.

[dad1153]

"Chungking Express" on the other hand...

[Perkins Cobb]

So, really, the question is turning into: with Criterion becoming the last stop for so many studio and indie catalogs, can they grow enough to keep pace? Or will the same movies that have been sitting on the Miramax shelf for 20 years just start collecting dust over at Criterion?

Ah, man, why couldn't the Weinsteins have gone bust five years ago....

[AquaNarc]

I believe Miramax has the rights to Through the Olive Trees, yes? Although they obviously just sat on it forever. Would love to see CC snatch that one up if it's realistic.

[Flike]

Three Colours? Miramax has a lot of high-profile, 'mainstream' stuff they've mistreated that I could see neu-Criterion going after.

[Dr. Mabuse]

Miramax sold to Filmyard Holdings for $660 million.

[ianungstad]

Nice to see the sale finally confirmed. Will be interesting to see how the licensing works out.

One title that I wonder about is Guillermo Del Toro's Mimic. They were in the midst of working on a director's cut dvd when Disney decided to sell off Miramax. I wonder if Del Toro will work something out with Tutor and Criterion to have it released alongside Cronos. since the disc I believe is pretty much ready to go, just lacking distribution. I think last year criterioncast or some other website had an April fool's joke announcing Criterion would be releasing the film, would be funny if that ended up being true.

Will be interesting to see what happens. Looks like Disney will continue distributing Miramax material for up to a year until they've set up their operations.

[Finch]

Might be the ideal opportunity to ask them if they would consider trying to bid for Farewell My Concubine..

[mfunk9786]

If Criterion released Amelie it might be their best seller ever.

[eerik]

If Criterion released Amelie it might be their best seller ever.

Or any of those Tarantino films. I'm hoping for Three Colours Trilogy and The Piano.

[ianungstad]

Well, I hope whoever is lucky enough to land the distribution rights to Kill Bill finally get the special edition out. Tarantino must've been working on it off and on for almost 6-7 years now.

A real special edition of Princess Mononoke would be nice as well. You would think Miramax would have put one out by now. The only extra on the dvd is a lame 5 minute puff piece with various Hollywood celebrities who contributed to the english dub.

My only fear is that Lions Gate tries to cherry pick the major titles. I don't expect they'll do the releases justice. I hope their pursuit of MGM distracts them enough to let others take a crack at Miramax.

Sony is almost out of the question. They have an exclusive deal with the Weisntein Co. they signed earlier this year. The bros. must be livid, I doubt Sony would risk damaging that relationship by picking up home video distribution for Miramax.

[Brian C]

I know they did theatrical distribution, but Miramax doesn't have home video rights to The Piano do they? I thought they were still with Lionsgate via the old Live/Artisan catalog, cf. Reservoir Dogs.

[Svevan]

A real special edition of Princess Mononoke would be nice as well. You would think Miramax would have put one out by now. The only extra on the dvd is a lame 5 minute puff piece with various Hollywood celebrities who contributed to the english dub.

Would be a good choice for Criterion to pick as its first animated release: popular film in need of high-def treatment, could include homegrown interviews with the filmmakers, and Crit would do great disc art. It'll never happen, of course. They seem not to have the apparatuses necessary to release animation.

on a side note, shouldn't the plural of apparatus be apparati? The Internet says no.

[Mr Sausage]

on a side note, shouldn't the plural of apparatus be apparati? The Internet says no.

The internet, shockingly, is right. The Latin plural of apparatus is apparatus. It's one of those weird fourth declension nouns, don't think too much on it.

[Finch]

The Whole Bloody Affair of Kill Bill has been overdue for so long that it'll be almost miraculous if the pic gets released at all. If the Japan Blu of Vol 1 wasn't the Western cut but the Japanese release instead, I'd have just gotten the Japanese BDs.

[Jeff]

I know they did theatrical distribution, but Miramax doesn't have home video rights to The Piano do they? I thought they were still with Lionsgate via the old Live/Artisan catalog, cf. Reservoir Dogs.

The rights to The Piano, The Crying Game, et. al. will eventually revert back to Miramax. Resevoir Dogs is an exception as Live contributed to the financing in exchange for the video rights.

[dwk]

I was under the impression that Disney has the rights to Princess Mononoke and they just let it go out under Miramax because it was PG-13.

I thought that Tarantino and the Weinsteins control the rights to Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair. In any event, the last rumor about it was that they were adding some more anime to the film.

[justeleblanc]

If Criterion released Amelie it might be their best seller ever.

Armageddon was a big seller too

[MoonlitKnight]

Soderbergh's "Kafka" is long overdue as well.

[Jeff]

Miramax is now credited as the licensor of Double Life of Veronique on the sell sheets for the new Blu-ray. The DVD was credited to Image.

[eerik]

The Piano is actually a Miramax film that was under license to Lionsgate (due to a previous theatrical distribution deal with Live Entertainment). Those rights have recently expired and gone back to Miramax. The new owners of the Miramax library will likely release it themselves at some point. When Disney owned Miramax, they licensed a few things to Criterion. We'll see if that continues.

New owners said they are not interested in physical formats and will license their library for other distributors. Outlook is good.

[Jeff]

New owners said they are not interested in physical formats and will license their library for other distributors. Outlook is good.

They are likely looking for a distributor for the whole library though, versus the 30 or so titles that Criterion might want. Someone like Lionsgate, Vivendi, or even Image would probably make the most sense. This would be similar to the way in which Fox distributes MGM product. I could see Vivendi going after it since they already distribute for Weinstein, and there is obviously a lot of synergy between those brands.

My bet (and the best scenario for Criterion enthusiasts) is that Image picks up distribution of the full Miramax library. They are really trying to focus on distribution again, and have been snapping up rights and distribution deals left and right (they now distribute a chunk of Sony titles, plus the libraries of Handmade Films, New Films International, One Village Entertainment, and they bought Madacy Home Video). Ideally, the contract would allow for Criterion to sublicense elaborate special editions of titles they select, and Image to do everything else.