Peter Abrams, the producer of "Underclassman," says his movie was caught in the "Weinstein-Disney buzz saw." He's hardly alone.
Over the next three months, Miramax Films, founded and operated by brothers Bob and Harvey Weinstein, will release at least 10 movies, including seven films that have been gathering dust on the studio's shelves for up to four years. The backlog is so profound that the directors of three of those films have started, filmed and almost completed new movies with other studios in the time it has taken Disney-owned Miramax to bring their earlier films to theaters.
"To have it be sitting there just kills you," Abrams says of "Underclassman," a drama about an undercover police officer played by "Drumline's" Nick Cannon.
The release of several of the Miramax movies was held up partially by the very public divorce of the Weinsteins and Disney, which bought the studio in 1993. With the Weinsteins set to leave Disney and Miramax on Sept. 30, the brothers say they are determined before their exit to supervise the debuts of movies they produced and purchased.
"It's about us overseeing the movies," Bob Weinstein says. (More current Miramax movies that were in production when the Weinstein-Disney split commenced will be released by the brothers' new company.)
Added Harvey in a statement: "Releasing these films prior to our departure gives us the ability to continue to support the filmmakers and the projects."
In the rush to get their Miramax movies out, the Weinsteins have scheduled five films for release in one two-week span in September, often a slow month for movie ticket sales. And some Miramax movies scheduled for wide release in August will face steep competition from heavily marketed fare; "Underclassman," for example, is set to open the same day as "The Dukes of Hazzard."
The makers of "The Libertine" complained to the studio about the planned Sept. 16 release date for the Johnny Depp period drama, saying it was too early in the year for Academy Awards attention, according to three people familiar with the matter.
As for "Libertine's" awards chances being hurt by its release date, Bob Weinstein says, "That theory has been disproved by others." "Gladiator" and "Seabiscuit," Bob Weinstein says, both received plenty of awards notice despite their respective May and July theatrical debuts.
