In an elaborate ceremony last night, fat rage-eater Harvey Weinstein was re-annointed the vengeful God of Hollywood from the stage of the Golden Globes by High Priestess Meryl Streep.
Two filmmakers have sued Harvey and Bob Weinstein's studio for more than $114 million, claiming that the Weinsteins ruined five animated film projects with their "indecisiveness and general incompetence." They would have filed the lawsuit earlier, they say, but the Weinsteins paid them $500,000 in quasi-hush money to…
Indie film hut Miramax has partnered with its old owners, the Weinstein Brothers, with plans to produce sequels of Weinstein-era Miramax's hits from the '90s and early '00s, including Rounders, Bad Santa, and most improbably, Shakespeare in Love.
• Sundance was a lower-key affair this year thanks to the economy. [WWD]
• Layoffs: Rumor has it The Weinstein Co. cut as many as 30 staffers today. And a big round of layoffs could come to CBS next week. [Gawker, LAT]
• The Vancouver Olympics could cost NBC as much as $250 million. [THR]
• Keith Olbermann's ratings…
• You may not be able to tune into Fox as of tomorrow. The feud between News Corp. and Time Warner Cable has yet to be resolved, and if a deal isn't reached in the next day, you'll have to go elsewhere for your Simpsons reruns. [THR]
• There was no Christmas miracle for Harvey and Bob Weinstein this year. With Nine…
Struggling movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and his brother Bob are selling off their controlling stake in the struggling social network aSmallWorld, according to the LA Times. (The buyer is Patrick Liotard-Vogt, an heir to the family that founded Nestle.) Clearly the site and Weinstein boys have both seen better days,…
Weinstein Company is selling its exclusive social network for rich people to a Swiss heir, the Los Angeles Times is reporting. At last, circumstances have forced the company to do what it should have done years ago.
• More on the financial difficulty facing Harvey and Bob Weinstein: The studio has blown through $1.2 billion to date and now needs to come up with another $50 million. Or magically produce a string of hits at the box office. [WSJ, LAT]
• Despite rumors to the contrary, Condé Nast may shut down several of its…
• Condé Nast editors and publishers may be forced to cut their budgets by as much as 25% now that the consultants reviewing operations are completing their tour of duty. Not surprisingly, "significant layoffs" are expected. [NYO]
• More trouble for Harvey: The Weinstein Co. says it plans to cut 35 additional positions…
• So how did Jay Leno's new show do? He hit it out of the park ratings-wise, roping in an estimated 18 million viewers. The reviews were all pretty lousy, though, so don't be surprised if it's all downhill from here. [AdAge, LAT, THR]
• The sale of BusinessWeek: Bruce Wasserstein has dropped out as a potential…
• Harvey and Bob Weinstein are breathing a sigh of relief today. Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds did better than expected at the box office this weekend, raking in $37.6 million in sales. Not that one good weekend will be enough to lift the studio out of the financial mess it is in. [NYT, THR, WSJ]
• Related:…
Reader's Digest reported yesterday that it plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection any day now. The firm that Reader's Digest retained back in June to try and restructure the company's debt so it could prevent a bankruptcy filing? Miller Buckfire, the same financial advisory firm now counseling Harvey and …
• Another media company falls: Reader's Digest Association, the publisher of Reader's Digest (duh) and a handful of other titles (like Every Day with Rachael Ray), says it will file for bankruptcy protection shortly. [Reuters]
• As you may have heard, things haven't been too well for Harvey Weinstein and his brother, …
Or so goes today's lacerating NYT piece on The Weinstein Company's fate, "The Weinsteins Scamble to Regain a Golden Touch in Hollywood." Like old Miramax films, it's juicy, exciting, illuminating, and troubling. It also lays their survival strategy bare.
Guest of a Guest has a tip that Harvey Weinstein is trying to sell the Weinstein Co.'s stake in A Small World, a useless "Facebook for millionaires" that the company stupidly invested in three years ago.
Inglourious Basterds premiered last night in Hollywood, and will open nationwide next weekend. The Weinstein Company is in full PR mode, because August 21 is the weekend that will make or break Harvey Weinstein.
Have the Weinstein brothers done anything lately that doesn't signal a desperate need for cash? Now Bob Weinstein, the less violent and insane half of the pair, is trying to unload his Central Park West duplex for $34 million.
• Is Harvey and Bob Weinstein's film company headed for bankruptcy? That remains unclear, although the Weinstein Co's decision to hire Miller Buckfire to restructure its finances isn't a good sign, that's for sure. [NYT]
• Members of the Boston Newspaper Guild are voting today whether to accept the package of pay cuts…
Things at the House of Harvey haven't been going well, and now it's reported that they've brought in a financing firm to restructure their debt, and figure out how to cover the boat's holes before it fills with water.
