Harvey Weinstein has been facing a lot of scrutiny ever since Quentin Tarantino‘s “The Hateful Eight” underperformed at the box office last winter. The industry seems to be seeing vultures circling The Weinstein Company, an image that hasn’t been helped by the studio kicking back two movies from summer release: the barely promoted period drama “Tulip Fever,” which will now land in February 2017, and the McDonald’s movie “The Founder,” starring Michael Keaton, which moves from August to a limited bow in December before going wide in January. But before you ask Weinstein if he’s got money issues… well, he may have 99 problems, but balancing a checkbook ain’t one.
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In an extensive interview with THR, super-producer and TWC COO David Glasser says the studio has a $500 million credit line and is debt free. Moreover, the big money earner for the company right now is its library, particularly in how it’s been utilized in television, with shows based on “The Mist,” “Spy Kids,” and “Scream” all in play, plus co-productions on “Peaky Blinders” and “Gomorrah.” Basically, the studio’s catalog is pretty much a half-billion dollar asset.
As for those release date shifts? According to TWC, “Tulip Fever” was moved to prevent it being released so close to “Jason Bourne,” as both star Alicia Vikander. Meanwhile, “The Founder” was bumped to get out of the way of the “Suicide Squad” juggernaut as well as the Olympics, which starts the same weekend the movie would have initially opened. Now, TWC has positioned that film for some awards season play. However, the company already has one movie picked as a big Oscar hope, and it’s one that isn’t much in the conversation yet —”Lion.”
Starring Dev Patel, Rooney Mara and Nicole Kidman and directed by Garth Davis (“Top Of The Lake“), the drama is based on the remarkable true story of Saroo Munshi Khan, who got lost in the slums of Calcutta as a child, and years later, using his memories and Google Maps, tracks down his parents. And Weinstein thinks it could be in the Oscar in a major way.
“You have to look at the records. We have more Oscars than some studios that started in 1900… I think ‘Lion’ will set a new streak for us. ‘Lion’ could get nominated for eight or nine Academy Awards. McConaughey gets [a nomination for Stephen Gaghan‘s ‘Gold‘]. Nicole gets one or supporting actress because she’s amazing in ‘Lion.’ ”
Vanity Fair‘s summary of the story told in “Lion” is a gripping read, and it’s easy to see how this could be a dramatic homerun. But Weinstein is no stranger to overselling his own movies (remember when promised Jake Gyllenhaal would get an Oscar for “Southpaw“)?
In any event, Weinstein won’t go down easy— he’ll be in the fight this awards season as much as he has been in past years.
