In Vanity Fair's recent and pretty juicy profile of up-and-coming movie producer Megan Ellison, they made it clear that she fell out with Harvey Weinstein over the lower-than-expected returns for Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master." The veteran head of The Weinstein Company reportedly “brought Megan to tears four or five times,” and they also clashed over "Killing Them Softly," and their relationship became so acrimonious, Ellison "vowed not to work with Weinstein again." Even David O. Russell, whose next film is being produced by Ellison but has his "Silver Linings Playbook" distributed by Weinstein, tried to broker some peace, but those attempts failed. “We did ask her to consider [working with Harvey] in the future, and from there, that’s about her relationship with Harvey,” he said. But it looks like business heals all wounds.
With the film making it's international premiere today at the Berlin International Film Festival, Wong Kar-Wai's "The Grandmaster" has been picked up for U.S. distribution by The Weinstein Company, who acquired the rights from Ellison's Annapurna. The filmmaker's story about martial arts legend Ip Man has been doing so well in China that there is already sequel talk, but this is just plain good news for one of our most anticipated movies from one of our favorite filmmakers. There's no release date yet, but here's hoping Harv doesn't sit on it too long.
Now, one can speculate as to whether or not Megan and Harvey made up, but at the end of day, Ellison does have to serve the filmmaker's needs. And preventing a distribution deal from happening over a grudge is in no one's best interests. That said, will she send Harv a birthday card? We doubt it, but it looks like the pair have put aside past differences for future success, and that's just good for everyone. [Deadline]
