The recent economic downturn has hit everyone hard (this writer can be found dancing for pennies at subway stations most lunchtimes), and Hollywood is no exception. The likes of Picturehouse, Warner Independent and the Bob Yari Group have all closed in the last year, and rumors have been have been flying about the health of The Weinstein Company for a while. About a month ago, Harvey Weinstein admitted that the company were in tricky financial waters in a New York Times article, saying “The ships’ riding on the slate.” Since then, they’ve opened “Inglourious Basterds” and “Halloween 2,” both to reasonably profitable ends — the former is now the company’s biggest ever film, taking in over $105 million to date, while “Halloween 2” has doubled its production budget.
However, neither has rescued the company (and to be fair, no film could on its own, except for perhaps a super-profitable, once-a-decade surprise hit like “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”), and the company made significant lay-offs at the beginning of this month. Now, it’s been a big week for the company, with their purchase of Tom Ford’s “A Single Man,” which became the big surprise hit of the Venice and Toronto festivals, for a seven figure sum. At the same time, rumors were flying earlier in the week that the company’s big musical, “Nine” could be delayed to next year, and last night brought the news that Michael Cera vehicle “Youth In Revolt,” already long-delayed, has been moved to January 15, 2010. The same article reveals that “Nine” will be released this year, but will have a more gradual release than originally planned, opening in limited release on November 25, then going wider a month later.
The truth is, these moves are clearly connected. The Weinsteins are likely not in any worse state of crisis than they were a month ago, but, by purchasing “A Single Man,” which Harvey has high Oscar hopes for, the company need to free up money, both for its release, and for the Oscar campaign. “Youth In Revolt,” which had stronger-than-expected reviews at Toronto this week, is clearly not an awards hopeful, and may fare better at the box office in the quiet season of January. It’s important to remember, too, that the Weinstein Company are not the only ones to delay a film for these reasons – the delay of Martin Scorsese’s “Shutter Island” has been put down to similar factors, and Paul Greengrass’ “Green Zone” was also moved into next year.
Speaking of Universal, the studio behind “Green Zone,” Variety reported today that the company has halted all development on projects for the rest of the year, stating that “The studio doesn’t need to spend money on future projects right now because it essentially knows which pictures are going to get made over the next two years”. None of these studios are about to go down overnight, but it’s clear that belts are being tightened all over town.