Despite biz negotiations, M'max keeping busy
Wait, isn’t the Weinsteins-Miramax connection supposed to be winding down?
As the seemingly never-ending negotiations between Disney-Miramax and Bob and Harvey Weinstein prolong their “final stages,” the brothers’ work under the Miramax banner seems more active than ever on a number of fronts.
Dimension has been building big buzz for Robert Rodriguez‘s dark comicbook adaptation”Sin City,” Miramax’s TV division has a hit in “Project Runway” and “All Shook Up,” the Broadway tuner the Weinsteins are producing with Jonathan Pollard, Bernie Kukoff and others, has built strong word-of mouth in its preview run.
Show, using the songs of Elvis Presley, arrived just as the jukebox-musical craze seemed to be on the slide. Tepid critical reaction during its Chicago tryout led to a reworking of the show’s ending, and word of mouth has been great during in its preview run, with male lead Cheyenne Jackson stirring attention for a possible crossover to film roles.
Variety‘s David Rooney writes in his review, “This frothy show cracks the formula with at least as much wit and panache as ‘Mamma Mia!’ ”
As for “Sin City,” which bows April 1, the pic is tracking strongly, getting high interest from both younger and older male auds.
“Project Runway’s” first-season finale drew more than 2 million viewers for Bravo — building 468% from the show’s debut — and the net has just brokered a deal for 10 more episodes for season two.
All this activity could help boost the Weinsteins as they move to launch a new company with Wall Street backing.
Perhaps the brothers should adopt Mark Twain’s famous phrase, “Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”
