Apparently, bullshit artist extraordinaire David Bergstein and Ron Tutor, a Los Angeles-based construction magnate, are very close to acquiring Miramax Films.
… Say what?
We reported that Bergstein was in the running for the company, but we didn’t think it would seriously go this far. The LA Times reports that, while a deal was expected to be finalized by the end of the weekend, nothing as of this morning has been confirmed. However, the two became front-runners for the company after their bid was closest to Disney’s sale price of $700 million. Even though Hollywood and everyone in it appear to have the memory of Leonard Shelby, it seems that all remember Bergstein as being, shall we say, particularly shady to put it fucking lightly and the article states that “many in Hollywood, and even some executives inside Disney, considered Bergstein a dark horse given his trouble business dealings.” Nervous, but still going ahead, the whole thing is now under lawyer review and the two have the right to conclude a deal exclusively.
Bergstein and Tutor have had a relationship for years, starting as neighbors and then eventually working together, one of their credits being the Luke Wilson (read: lukewarm) film “The Wendell Baker Story.” The two seem eager to acquire Miramax and its library, as they look to the future and have plans to build a global digital distribution business. Well, owning “Pulp Fiction” and “Clerks” sure is a start, right? Also putting down some money is an unnamed off-shore investor, so it’s unclear as to his knowledge of film or Bergstein’s recent film catastrophes.
Seeing as Bergstein destroyed both ThinkFilm and Capitol Films, his neighbor relationship with Tutor must go deeper than borrowing the lawn mower to have him sink this amount of dough into the company. Stay tuned for the official word coming soon, but this feels rather unbelievable. Yes, this story is indeed crazy (we never would’ve thought Bergstein could rope this one in a million years), but it’s true nonetheless and may yield some interesting newsbits throughout the year. We’ll see if it indeed happens. Someone will throw in an 11th hour launchblocker, no?