Ready for some new old news? Here we go: Way back in 2010, The Weinstein Company and Miramax announced a deal that would find TWC putting into production sequels for some of the biggest movies from the studio they once started, as well as developing television offshoots too. Nothing happened. But thanks to new money and investors, these are now back on the docket.
Colony Capital and Qatar Holding are now involved, allowing the Miramax deal to finally get moving, with sequels to “Shakespeare In Love” and “Rounders” first up to get out of the gate. And it seems the latter is already well on its way, with Harvey Weinstein boasting the return of a key actor. “I’ve discussed making ‘Rounders 2’ with Matt Damon and I would say that’s going to be instantaneous,” the mogul declared. “The guys [writers David Levien and Brian Koppelman] have a great idea, a way to make it more international where you start the card game in Paris, that’s all I want to say. There might be a certain beautiful Parisian actress involved in it, and then we’re off to the racetrack and Vegas with Matty and Edward Norton, and a new supervillain to replace John Malkovich.”
Moreover, Deadline adds that Robert De Niro is being eyed for that villain part, and back in 2011, Harvey said John Dahl would be back in the director’s chair too (though there’s no mention of him this time around). But that’s not all TWC is cooking.
“Good Will Hunting” and “Flirting With Disaster” will be turned into TV series, along with “The Alibi” penned by Stephen Colbert, a script that has been sitting in the Miramax library collecting dust. Speaking of which, the adaptation of Liz Jensen‘s “The Ninth Life Of Louis Drax,” once a potential project for the late Anthony Minghella, will also be revived.
So why this push on sequels and spinoffs? C.R.E.A.M. “In an age where there is so much demand for television, we see a lot of TV series… There is so much intellectual property, and we’re in an age where, for however long it lasts, content is king,” Weinstein declared.
And we’d wager Harv is just getting started. Back in 2010, “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” “Copland,” “Swingers,” “Clerks,” “Shall We Dance” and “The Amityville Horror” were also titles tossed around as potential franchise properties, so we’d reckon there’s lots more to come. Indeed, there is already a “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” sequel coming courtesy of the Weinsteins.
