Thompson on Hollywood

Weinsteins to Mount Awards Preview in Cannes

Awards

The Weinstein Co, is preparing its assault on the coming award season. Step one: like last year, Harvey Weinstein is planning to preview some material from their upcoming award slate at Cannes. We don't know what they'll show, but here's their updated schedule thus far:

By Anne Thompson
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May 10, 2013 4:13 PM
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Weinstein Company Dates 'Salinger' Documentary for September UPDATE

News

The notoriously reclusive “Catcher in the Rye” author J.D. Salinger will finally get his cinematic dues, posthumously, in writer/director Shane Solerno’s upcoming documentary “Salinger.” UPDATE: The Weinstein Company officially announced today their acquisition of the eagerly awaited film’s worldwide distribution rights. TWC, who closed the deal on the film after screening it the morning of the Oscars, anticipates a September 6 release date following a festival run.

By Beth Hanna and Ryan Lattanzio
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March 21, 2013 7:30 PM
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Weinstein Company Goes Haute-Couture with 'Yves Saint Laurent' Biopic

News

The Weinstein Company has taken US distribution rights to French-language biopic "Yves Saint Laurent," directed by Jalil Lespert ("Headwinds") and chronicling the rise of the eponymous legendary fashion designer.

By Beth Hanna
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March 20, 2013 3:41 PM
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Weinstein Lines Up Oscar Slate, First Reactions to 'August: Osage County,' Starring Streep

Awards

First reactions are coming in for the Weinsteins' "August: Osage County," an adaptation of Tracy Letts' Pulitzer Prize-winning play with director John Wells at the helm. TWC production exec Ben Famiglietti told Harvey Weinstein that the 190-page play was "the best writing ever out of Chicago," Weinstein recalled at a Sundance panel. "It was amazing, we invested in the play, which means getting movie rights. It stars Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts, is produced by George Clooney and Grant Heslov."

By Anne Thompson and Beth Hanna
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March 19, 2013 4:19 PM
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Weinsteins Face Challenging Oscar 'Playbook'

Awards

The Weinsteins have long followed the same Oscar playbook: line up a thick stack of Oscar-worthy potential contenders, give them a shot and see what sticks. They're usually pretty sharp about what's going to play with Academy voters. Nobody does it better. But this year things may not be panning out as they had planned. The studios have mounted an arsenal of powerful players for the fourth quarter that have been eating into the indie share of the adult audience.

By Anne Thompson
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November 28, 2012 6:00 AM
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'SEAL Team Six' Director John Stockwell Talks Fact and Fiction, Harvey Weinstein, 'Zero Dark Thirty'

Interviews

Rushing out the fast-and-dirty TV movie of a big news story before the Hollywood class-act hits is nothing new. It's just odd that Harvey Weinstein got into the act with fiction film "SEAL Team Six: The Raid on Bin Laden." This is hardly Oscar or even Emmy fare. What exactly motivated the movie mogul to jump into this low-budget run-and-gun TV movie at last year's Cannes?

By Anne Thompson
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October 30, 2012 6:58 PM
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Relativity CEO Ryan Kavanaugh Takes Legal Action Against 'New Yorker' Burkle Profile, UPDATE

News

Following journalist Connie Bruck's Ron Burkle profile published Monday in The New Yorker entitled "Cashier du Cinema," which depicts Relativity Media CEO Ryan Kavanaugh as an incompetent businessman (which Hollywood insiders have long suspected) who has lost control of his company to Burkle, Kavanaugh and his lawyer are protesting, calling the piece "false and malicious."

By Anne Thompson and Beth Hanna
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October 2, 2012 2:40 PM
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Busy Jennifer Lawrence Balances Franchise Paydays with Indie Fare; Wanted for 'Ends of the Earth'

News

With both David O. Russell's "Silver Linings Playbook" (November 21) and Suzanne Bier's "Serena" (2013) in the bag, Jennifer Lawrence is a lock for two "Hunger Games" sequels (going from $500,000 to some $10-million for number two) and a reprise of her role as Mystique in an "X-Men: First Class" sequel, but her future indie pursuits are less certain.

By Sophia Savage
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August 7, 2012 1:35 PM
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Finally, Venice Makes 'The Master' Official

Festivals

Harvey Weinstein likes to milk his PR. We all know that Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master," which made its LA debut at an unannounced 70 mm screening at the Aero Theatre last Saturday (TOH review here), was set to show at the 69th Venice Biennale. Sure enough, the official release finally arrived, announcing four new titles including "The Master," starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix and Amy Adams, which will be shown in 70 mm. Chances are also good the film will turn up in Toronto.

By Anne Thompson
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August 7, 2012 11:41 AM
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Paul Thomas Anderson Sneak Previews 'The Master' in 70 mm in Santa Monica

News

Friday night I got an email tipping me that Paul Thomas Anderson was previewing "The Master" in 70 mm at The Aero in Santa Monica. Scheduled at 10:30 PM, the movie unspooled after 11 PM; I did get a writer into the house and will post something later today.