The Weinstein Company and Miramax announced on Thursday an agreement to produce sequels to some of the best-known films in the Miramax library.
The companies said they would also partner on new television shows and special edition home entertainment releases.
The agreement includes eight films that had not previously had the sequel rights worked out, including “Bad Santa,” “Rounders” and “Shakespeare in Love.”
Weinstein will produce the movies, and while Miramax will have the option to co-finance, it is not anticipated that they will choose to do so, according to an individual with knowledge of the deal.
Under the deal, if Weinstein finances the films, Miramax will retain only a five percent gross stake, making the projects essentially Weinstein properties.
"Shakespeare in Love" is unlikely to be an early project. Instead, most of the sequels will be made in Bob Weinstein's division -- a sequel to "Bad Santa" and "Amityville Horror" is planned, along with possibly a television series based on "Swingers."
Weinstein expects to make about five such sequels in the next two years.
The eight films in the deal also include "Bridget Jones’s Diary," "Copland," "From Dusk Till Dawn," "Clerks" and "Shall We Dance."
This partnership is similar to one that already exists between the two companies to produce sequels like "Scream 4" (due April 15, 2011), "Spy Kids 4" (August 19, 2011) and "Scary Movie 5."
Newly-installed CEO Mike Lang told TheWrap in an interview earlier this week that he would be focusing on the library for the first two years, but also seek to develop sequels based on existing titles.
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"Over the long term, we’ll do more and more on our own, but our focus has to be on the core library," Lang told TheWrap. "That doesn’t mean we won’t do new projects either through acquisitions or by developing the sequel rights we received as part of the deal. We got hundreds of projects that are in various stages of development."
Lang added: "Sequel rights are something we are going to exploit aggressively."
In the release, Lang pointed out that the agreement "will extend the Miramax library while also enabling us to create new content without committing near-term capital.”
Here’s the press release:
MIRAMAX ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY TO PRODUCE SEQUELS
SANTA MONICA and LOS ANGELES (December 16, 2010) – Miramax and The Weinstein Company (TWC) today announced an agreement to create sequels to some of Miramax’s best-known properties and to partner on potential new television shows and special edition home entertainment products.
The first films to be produced under the agreement will be sequels to Bad Santa, Rounders and Shakespeare in Love. The other potential sequels and TV projects are Bridget Jones’s Diary, Copland, From Dusk Till Dawn, Swingers, Clerks, Shall We Dance, and The Amityville Horror.
