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16 articles from 2008

2 October 2008 8:58 AM, PDT | From wenn.com | See recent WENN news

Latest: Heidi Klum and the makers of U.S. TV series Project Runway have been cleared of stealing the concept for the hit show from two fashion designers.

Cynthia Rodriguez and Elizabeth Zwiebach filed suit against Klum, Disney, Disney's Miramax Film Corp, Miramax founders Harvey and Robert Weinstein, their new venture Weinstein Company, and NBC Universal in December 2005.

The pair claimed that they originally developed the idea for Project Runway and had allegedly sent a 40-page outline for a reality show they were interested in developing, titled American Runway, to Klum's agents after first approaching them about it in July 2003.

The show was first aired on the Bravo channel, which is part of NBC Universal, in December 2004.

Rodriguez and Zweibach also claim to have registered and copyrighted the work with the Writer's Guild of America in March 2003, and that Project Runway was "strikingly similar" to their idea.

But the case was thrown out on Wednesday by Manhattan Federal Judge Loretta Preska, who said there were more than enough differences to conclude Klum and the makers did not poach the idea, according to New York Daily News.

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2 October 2008 8:25 AM, PDT | From NYPost.com | See recent New York Post news

Miramax has shelled out a cool $9 million to settle a lawsuit filed by producer Marty Richards over the profits of "Chicago," Page Six has learned. In 2006, Richards accused Miramax, which was founded by Harvey and Bob Weinstein, of using deceptive accounting practices to cheat him out of millions earned by the Oscar-winning smash, which grossed $300 million worldwide. The Weinsteins, who sold Miramax to Disney years earlier but still ran it, weren't named in the suit, although Richards never hid his hatred of Harvey. "This is not a nice man. I won't speak to him anymore,

30 September 2008 8:00 AM, PDT | From PEOPLE.com | See recent PEOPLE.com news

He's played crooked cops and criminals. But on Oct. 13, Ray Liotta will lend his voice to a new villain and face a new foe: SpongeBob SquarePants. On the half-hour Nickelodeon special, Spongebob SquarePants’ Who Bob, What Pants, the Goodfellas star, 53, will voice the leader of the "dangerous Bubble Poppin’ Boys” gang. According to the network, SpongeBob "wanders the ocean, a stranger in his own pants,” and finds himself in a rough part of New Kelp City, where he faces off against the Boys' gangleader, Liotta's character. But SpongeBob fans, fear not: SpongeBob accidentally becomes a hero, Nickelodeon reveals. How? Tune

24 September 2008 9:09 AM, PDT | From wenn.com | See recent WENN news

Producers of Samuel L. Jackson and late comic Bernie Mac's film Soul Men have brushed off claims the movie is based on legendary musician Sam Moore, after the furious soul singer threatened legal action.

Jackson and Mac play an estranged R+B duo in the movie - a plot Moore claims is too similar to his own career with late musician Dave Prater.

Moore, 72, admits he has yet to see the film, but claims he was informed by unnamed sources that producers used his music to set the mood for scenes in the film, reports the New York Daily News.

He tells the newspaper: "In the movie, they have a reunion concert. Dave and I had a reunion in 1982 after not talking with each other for years.

"Sam Jackson and Bernie Mac sing Hold On, I'm Coming. That's also our song."

The singer also claims production company bosses at Dimension Films "tried to buy me out" with a $1,000 (GBP541) offer for a walk-on role.

Disappointed with the offer and the use of the N-word in the film, Moore says he is consulting lawyers about the project, adding: "A thousand dollars! Whoa. You know, slavery times have ended.

"Even when Dave and I were fighting and cursing, we never used that (the N) word. It's an insult to every one of us who fought in the civil rights movement.

"I don't understand how this can happen. It's not right."

But producer David Friendly has denied a direct link to Moore in the film, insisting the story is completely fictional.

He says: "Everything in the movie is completely made up. The characters are back-up singers, unlike Sam and Dave, who were headliners. (Producer) Bob Weinstein's brother Harvey Weinstein suggested at a party that Sam might be in the movie. But Sam declined the offer. No money was ever discussed. Just because they sing one Sam and Dave song doesn't make it a movie about them. I think it's unfair of (Moore) to criticise a movie he hasn't seen."

The film premieres at New York's famed Apollo on 24 October.

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12 September 2008 10:17 AM, PDT | From The Hollywood News | See recent The Hollywood News news

An ensemble cast is being lined up to star in the George Clooney and Grant Heslov produced The Men Who Stare At Goats. Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges are all in negotiations to star in he film, based on the book by the Guardian columnist Jon Ronson.

The story is set in Iraq and centers on Bob Wilton (McGregor), a desperate reporter who stumbles upon the story of a lifetime when he meets Lyn Cassady (Clooney), who claims to be a former secret U.S. military psychic soldier who was re¬activated post-9/11.

The Hollywood Reporter says that Bridges will play Bill Django, the founder of the psychic soldier program and Lyn's mentor. Spacey will play Larry Hooper, a former psychic soldier who is running a prison camp in Iraq.

Clooney and Heslov's Smoke House and BBC Films are co-producing the film with shooting to begin in October.

8 August 2008 3:45 AM, PDT | From MovieBlog.Ugo.com | See recent Ugo MovieBlog news

According to Variety, Brad Pitt has closed his deal to star in “Inglorious Bastards,” the WWII drama that Quentin Tarantino will direct for the Weinstein Co. and Universal.  Additionally, Nastassja Kinski is in early talks to play one of the sole female roles in the film. Casting the German-born actress jibes with Tarantino’s habit of resuscitating dormant careers. Kinski, who has stayed away from mainstream American films for nearly a decade, would play a German movie queen. Much of the pic’s dialogue is in French or German, and subtitles will be used, though Pitt will speak English in his role as a Tennessee hillbilly who assembles a team of eight Jewish-American soldiers to take on the Nazis. Simon Pegg, David Krumholtz and B.J. Novak are also in talks to join the project. Pegg would play a British lieutenant, while Krumholtz and Novak would play Pitt’s underlings. The film begins production Oct.

30 July 2008 1:32 PM, PDT | From firstshowing.net | See recent FirstShowing.net news

Michael Bay's horror sequels/reboots/re-imaginings are questionable enough, but a fourth installment of the Scream franchise strikes me as even more worrisome. A few weeks ago it was confirmed that the Weinsteins would be pursuing a third sequel to the franchise that started with a butchering bang back in 1996. More recently, MTV caught up with horror savant Wes Craven, the man behind the entire franchise anyway, who outright confirmed that "there has been talk between Bob Weinstein and me about doing another Scream." Might I ask the obvious question: why?! While the original Scream was some really good work, the two films that followed definitely created a downward trend for the series, at least in terms of quality. Even though each film earned about $100 million apiece (domestically), their respective ratings on Rotten Tomatoes go from 84% to 79% to 39%. When the Weinsteins say, "the fans have been asking for ...

Kevin Powers

29 July 2008 1:00 AM, PDT | From GetTheBigPicture.net | See recent Get The Big Picture news

Is there really anything left to Scream about? After all, when the series began, it satirized the genre and became its best entry in years all at once, but then the sequels were a little less interesting. In large measure, mainstream horror movies have become less interesting, as well, a parade of remakes and sequels that offer very little originality. So wouldn't Scream 4 be Scream all over again?

Wes Craven recently told MTV that he'd like to be involved in the project that the Weinsteins are looking to resuscitate nearly a decade after the third Scream flick. “My last experience [with the Weinsteins] was kind of rough with Cursed so it would have to be under very very controlled circumstances,” admitted Craven.

In defense of the Weinsteins - and you don't hear that phrase everyday - Cursed wouldn't have made money with Disneyfied marketing. It's just a bad, bad movie.

Having said that,

Colin Boyd

27 July 2008 4:25 PM, PDT | From iconsoffright.com | See recent Icons of Fright news

Wes Craven is currently at the San Diego Comic Con discussing his latest film 25/8 and there's tons of various reports all over the horror sites as to his involvement in a number of projects. Let's funnel through them and bring you the best tid-bits, shall we?

- Craven told Shock that he has not been contacted for the recently announced Scream 4. He says that Bob Weinstein contacted his agent and "He's not saying 'no'." It really depends how far along they are with the script since a lot of work had to be done on Scream 2 and 3 while they were shooting.

- Craven is not involved in any way to Platinum Dunes proposed remake of A Nightmare On Elm Street, as of yet. Word from Shock is that Platinum Dunes haven't secured the rights to redo it, but producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form said during the Friday The 13th

25 July 2008 12:44 AM, PDT | From NYPost.com | See recent New York Post news

If "Project Runway" wins an Emmy for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program, 15 producers will share the honor - but not Harvey Weinstein. Turns out the Emmy organizers have a limit, and "Project Runway" was one over, so one name had to be dropped. Top producer Barbara Schneeweiss told us: "I called up Harvey and said, 'We have all these people who have worked so hard on the show who should be recognized.' He was great about it and said,

14 July 2008 3:57 PM, PDT | From bloody-disgusting.com | See recent Bloody-Disgusting.com news

Last night it was announced that the Weinstein Co. is forging an exclusive, seven-year output pay-tv deal with Showtime that begins with Twc's 2009 slate, will cover 95 films, including such upcoming titles as Quentin Tarantino's "Inglorious Bastards" and Rob Marshall's "Nine." It also encompasses such Dimension Films titles as "Youth in Revolt" and "6 Billion Dollar Man." This afternoon we got our hands on the full press release that tipped off that the remake of David Cronenberg's Scanners, Piranha 3D and Scream 4 (!) are also included in the deal. More details forthcoming. "Dimension Films has enjoyed an outstanding relationship with Showtime and we are glad to be re-united with Matt Blank, added Bob Weinstein. "We are excited to build upon our past success with this new partnership and our upcoming slate."

3 July 2008 10:37 AM, PDT | From Studio Briefing | See recent Studio Briefing news

The writer of a book about Miramax founders Harvey and Bob Weinstein has sent the New York Post a 1996 recording of a telephone conversation between Harvey Weinstein, whose company had been acquired by Disney, and Joe Roth, then president of Walt Disney Studios. In it, the two jokingly discuss the decision by the Walt Disney Co. to pay Michael Ovitz $140 million to leave the company. Part of the conversation appears in the Post's "Page Six" column: "Please fire me," Weinstein quips. "I'll split whatever I get. ... If you don't fire me, then I think we should make bad movies next year. Let's make a series of [bleep]y movies." Roth replies: "I obviously made a mistake. I made good movies." Harvey says, "Joe, you are a success, so therefore you are a failure in this town." The two then name several top producers who won huge golden parachutes. "Everybody got wealthy on failure," Weinstein says. Roth replies: "You know what the problem is with you and me? We care about the movies." Weinstein laughs: "We have character flaws that must be overcome."

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3 July 2008 8:15 AM, PDT | From Spout.com | See recent Spout news

So Page Six has published an email from a character identified only as "The Final Nail," claiming that a Weinstein-era Miramax tell-all book is in the works, based on records and audio recordings kept by Stuart Meltzer, an assistant to Bob Weinstein who died in the World Trade Center on September 11. Mr. Nail says his book "will detail the day-to-day . . . manipulation of the Disney company by the Weinstein Bros." Maybe last week, this would have seemed like a big deal. But just a couple of days ago, the Village Voice published a long story by editor-in-chief Tony Ortega, based on his "accidental" scav ...

Karina Longworth

3 July 2008 4:56 AM, PDT | From wenn.com | See recent WENN news

An explosive book about film bosses Harvey Weinstein and Bob Weinstein's management of movie studio Miramax Films has been written by a former employee.

The expose is allegedly based on files and tapes compiled over a 15-year period and will reportedly detail the Weinstein's "manipulation" of the firm, which they co-founded in 1979 but left in 2005.

The as-yet-unnamed author tells New York Post gossip column PageSix, "Our database of Miramax files is huge... This former employee did not sign a nondisclosure agreement.

"Many of the files and tapes we are working from were given to us by the late Stuart Meltzer, who worked directly for Bob as his assistant before he was killed in the World Trade Center attack in 2001.

"Stuart was extremely paranoid and saved and recorded everything."

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2 June 2008 6:16 PM, PDT | From iconsoffright.com | See recent Icons of Fright news

Shock Till You Drop.com is reporting that Inside director's Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury are in talks to helm Halloween 2, the sequel to Rob Zombie's Halloween. The duo were originally tapped by Bob Weinstein to write and direct Dimension Films new Hellraiser flick. And after seeing the bloody mess these crazy bastards made with Inside, we were beyond excited at the prospect of these guys bringing Pinhead back. They eventually left the project, but according to Shock's article, "Weinstein has offered them an opportunity to helm Halloween 2".

The French pair are currently developing their Inside follow-up film Snow, but if true, Halloween 2 could end up being next. Quite frankly, I'm excited to see what these filmmakers do next within the genre, and I'd be totally Ok with them at the helm of Michael Myers next theatrical outing. More when we hear it!

7 January 2008 8:07 AM, PST | From wenn.com | See recent WENN news

The Weinstein Co. is preparing to seal a deal with striking writers, following in the footsteps of Tom Cruise's studio United Artists (Ua).

According to reports, Harvey and Bob Weinstein are waiting for Ua to announce their agreement with the Writers' Guild of America (Wga) before revealing they have struck an identical deal - allowing both studios to hire striking writers.

A source tells the New York Post, "They've always had a good relationship with the writers and are in a unique position to address the issue."

Because both the Weinstein Co. and United Artists are independent companies, they have less pressure from financial backers to stand up to picketing writers.

Wga members have been on strike since 5 November, causing chaos to the U.S. TV and movie industries.

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16 articles from 2008