The story
Founded by Bob Weinstein, Corky Burger and Harvey Weinstein in 1979, in Buffalo.1
Independent era (1979–1993)
Miramax was founded as initially Miramax Films by the Weinstein brothers, Harvey and Bob, along with executive Corky Burger in Buffalo, New York, in 1979, and was named by combining the first names of their parents, Miriam and Max. It was created to distribute independent films deemed commercially unfeasible by the major studios.
The company's first major success came when the Weinsteins teamed up with British producer Martin Lewis and acquired the U.S. rights to two concert films Lewis had produced of benefit shows for human rights organization Amnesty International. The Weinsteins worked with Lewis to distill the two films into one film for the American marketplace. The resulting film, the American version of The Secret Policeman's Other Ball, was a successful release for Miramax in the summer of 1982. This release presaged a modus operandi that the company would undertake later in the 1980s of acquiring films from international filmmakers and reworking them to suit American sensibilities and audiences. In its early years, Miramax Films had to focus primarily as a catalyst for music and decided to do a licensing agreement with Thorn EMI Video to release several of Miramax's early films.
Among the company's other breakthrough films as distributors in the late 1980s and early 1990s were Pulp Fiction, Scandal, Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, The Crying Game, and Clerks. The company also made films such as Flirting with Disaster, Heavenly Creatures, and Shakespeare in Love.
Miramax Films acquired and/or produced many other films that did well financially. The company became one of the leaders of the independent film boom of the 1990s. Miramax Films produced or distributed seven films with box office grosses totaling more than $100 million; its highest grossing title, Chicago, earned more than $300 million worldwide.
The company was also successful in securing Academy Award nominations for its releases, many of which resulted in Oscar wins.
Miramax expanded its empire when the company launched two new labels Millimeter Films in 1988 by Bob Weinstein for genre films, and arthouse label Prestige Films in 1990, run by Mark Lipsky, later replaced by Gerry Rich, and Prestige was eventually folded into Miramax Films.
In 1991, Miramax had bought out the distribution rights to Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth and the Children of the Corn franchise, and as a result, the existing Miramax label Millimeter Films was reconfigured into Dimension Films, and also launched the Miramax Family Films label, designed for children's films. The company also launched a home video label, Miramax Home Video.
Disney era (1993–2010)
On June 30, 1993, The Walt Disney Company purchased Miramax Films for $60 million and assumed all of the company's debt, which was more than $40 million. The acquisition gave Disney entry to the independent film market. Harvey and Bob Weinstein continued to operate Miramax Films until they left the company on September 30, 2005. During their tenure, the Weinstein brothers ran Miramax Films independently of other Disney subsidiaries and, as a result, had more autonomy than the other Disney-owned companies. Disney, however, had the final say on what Miramax Films could release (for example, Disney had banned Miramax Films from releasing Kids, Dogma and Fahrenheit 9/11). Disney's Buena Vista Home Entertainment division released Miramax output on VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray Disc under the name Miramax Home Entertainment in some countries, including the United States; elsewhere, the overall distribution of Miramax Films' output was passed to the regional licensees of Miramax International, a distribution arm of Miramax Films that was fully autonomous from Disney's own distribution operations.
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Miramax is also accused of ignoring their more artistic, less audience-friendly films, especially when directors refuse to re-cut them to make them less challenging. Dead Man, which director Jim Jarmusch refused to re-cut, got a very limited release and critics have accused the Weinsteins of burying the film.
With a more stable budget, Miramax Films began moving beyond acquisitions and distribution and into film production. Until September 30, 2005, the company also operated the label Dimension Films, which was solely founded by Bob to specialize in teen, horror, and other genre films, and created the Scream and Scary Movie film franchises. Harvey funded larger projects from up-and-coming directors, including Robert Rodriguez, Gus Van Sant, and Quentin Tarantino. Some of the films earned Oscars. At times the studio tried to release a film almost weekly.
In 1997, Miramax Films joined Peter Jackson as a primary financial backer in attempting to get the Lord of the Rings films produced. Disney disliked the cost of a two-parter, requesting that it be produced as a single film. Jackson and Saul Zaentz rejected Disney's request and looked for another studio or financier. Thus, Miramax Films sold the rights for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit to New Line Cinema in August 1998 for about $12 million, which led The Lord of the Rings to be produced as a trilogy. Miramax Films retained a 5% stake in the films' gross and then gave 2.5% to the Weinsteins. The potential editing of Princess Mononoke (1997) by Miramax has been the subject of rumor. The Guardian's Xan Brooks reported in 2005 that the film's director Hayao Miyazaki was rumored to have sent the then–head of Miramax Harvey Weinstein a samurai sword in the mail with the attached message "No cuts." In response, Miyazaki stated that "Actually, my producer did that." He also claimed that he "defeated" Weinstein's attempts to shorten the film's length. The claim has subsequently appeared in other media coverage. The media scholar Emma Pett wrote in 2018 that Miyazaki was "complicit in the construction of his auteur image" and the perpetuation of the rumor by these responses. The studio executive Steve Alpert wrote in his 2020 memoir that the producer Toshio Suzuki, after procuring a replica sword from a shop in Tokyo, presented it to Weinstein at a meeting in New York. He then "shouted in English and in a loud voice: 'Mononoke-hime, no cut!'"
One reason for the delays and non-releases of films was an accounting scheme that the Weinsteins used to shift potential money-losing films to future fiscal years and ensure they would receive annual bonuses from Disney, while trying to bar retailers from legally exporting authentic DVDs of the films. Defenders of the company point out that, prior to Miramax, most of the films purchased by the company would have had little to no chance of achieving U.S. distribution other than by very small distributors with minimal marketing expertise and funds. They also state that the purpose of the company's aggressive re-editing technique was always to try to help the films find a broader American audience than they might otherwise find. "I'm not cutting for fun", Harvey Weinstein said in an interview, "I'm cutting for the shit to work. All my life I served one master: the film. I love movies."
Through Miramax Films, Harvey founded Talk magazine with Tina Brown in 1998 (it shut down in 2002), albeit without the approval of then-Disney chief Michael Eisner, which upset Eisner. Also that year, 30 former employees filed suit over unpaid overtime wages.
By 2003, Miramax Films was less operative in the independent film market and became more of a mini-major as the company only acquired 3 films while producing Cold Mountain for $80 million. The Weinsteins claimed the company was profitable, but Walt Disney Company president Robert Iger indicated in June 2004 that they were not properly accounting for "account standard overhead, distribution fees, bonuses that we pay Harvey and Bob. Nor are they applying current accounting rules."
After extensive negotiations and much media and industry speculation, on March 30, 2005, Disney and the Weinsteins announced that they would not renew their contractual relationship when their existing agreements expired at the end of September 2005. The primary source of dispute was over distribution of Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore. Disney's film studio consortium, Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group, assumed control of Miramax Films, which was projected to have a smaller annual production budget. The Weinsteins started a new film production company called The Weinstein Company (TWC) and took the Dimension Films label with them. The Miramax Films name and library remained with the film studio owned by Disney. Production at Miramax Films was taken over by Daniel Battsek, who had been head of Buena Vista International in the UK. Battsek refocused Miramax Films to produce films of high quality but low budget. Maple Pictures held the rights to distribute Miramax films in Canada from 2008 up until August 10, 2011, when Maple Pictures was acquired by Alliance Films. At the time, the company was criticized for delaying or withholding release of Asian films to which it acquired the U.S. distribution rights. Previously, in 2003, the company was criticized for trying to bar retailers from legally exporting authentic DVDs of the films.
On October 3, 2009, Disney announced that the staff of Miramax Films was to be reduced by 70%, and the number of releases would be reduced by half to just three films per year. The label's marketing, distribution, and administrative functions, which had operated independently, would be folded into the parent studio in Burbank. The move became effective in January 2010. On October 30, 2009, Disney announced the resignation of Daniel Battsek as President of Miramax Films, effective when the transition from the studio in New York to Burbank was completed. The company's move of operations to The Walt Disney Studios in Burbank was completed on January 28, 2010, shutting down Miramax Films' separate New York and Los Angeles offices.
Though Disney Studio Chairman Dick Cook was a staunch supporter of Miramax Films, the brand was less of a priority for CEO Bob Iger, whose strategy was to focus on Disney's branded mass entertainment that could be exploited across Disney's theme parks, television, and consumer products. Following Disney's $4 billion acquisition of Marvel Entertainment in 2009, Cook was succeeded by Rich Ross. As a result, Miramax Films was relegated to the status of distribution label within the Walt Disney Company. Disney confirmed that it was looking into selling the Miramax label on February 9, 2010, with Iger explaining "We determined that continuing to invest in new Miramax movies wasn't necessarily a core strategy of ours".
Other companies and post-Disney ownership era (2010–2019)
On December 3, 2010, Disney closed the sale of Miramax for US$663 million to Filmyard Holdings, an investment group and joint venture of Colony NorthStar, Tutor-Saliba Corporation, and Qatar Investment Authority. The sale included 700 film titles, books, development projects, and the "Miramax" name. Mike Lang, the former News Corporation business development executive who was selected as the CEO of Miramax, indicated that the company would focus on their existing library, though they would continue making original content.
After the sale was closed, some films already developed at Miramax, including The Tempest and Gnomeo & Juliet, were eventually released by Disney under its Touchstone Pictures banner, and theatrical distribution of Don't Be Afraid of the Dark and The Debt were shifted to FilmDistrict and Focus Features respectively.
On December 16, 2013, Miramax entered into a deal with Harvey and Bob Weinstein's The Weinstein Company to develop and distribute select derivative works of films from the former studio. Sequels, television series, or stage productions of titles such as Rounders and Shakespeare in Love were among the projects said to be part of this agreement.
On July 17, 2015, Qatar and Colony NorthStar put Miramax up for sale for an offer of $1 billion. Harvey and Bob Weinstein had reportedly regained interest in reacquiring the studio via TWC in September. On March 2, 2016, Miramax was sold to beIN Media Group, a spinoff of Al Jazeera Media Network (which formerly owned its namesake beIN Sports).
On a July 21, 2016, interview, Harvey Weinstein stated that he was still interested in combining TWC's film library with Miramax's, after the acquisition of Miramax by beIN.
After Miramax's founder Harvey Weinstein was accused of sexual assault in October 2017, Miramax became one of 60 parties bidding on TWC on January 16, 2018. On April 27, Miramax and Lantern Capital emerged as the strongest contenders to acquire TWC's assets. Ultimately, it was Lantern that acquired TWC's library.
On June 7, 2019, beIN began the process of selling approximately 50% of Miramax in an effort to offer it for growth. Lionsgate (which distributed Miramax's titles on home video), Spyglass Media Group (owners of the Weinstein Company library, inherited via their deal with Lantern) and Viacom (Paramount's parent company who re-merged with CBS Corporation on December 4, 2019, to form ViacomCBS) were seen as the leading contenders to acquire a stake in the company. By August 19, 2019, Lionsgate and Viacom were the only contenders, as Spyglass Media Group dropped out of contention. On September 11, 2019, it was announced Lionsgate had dropped their bid, making Viacom the only bidder for the stake in Miramax. On November 8, 2019, Viacom exited the negotiations to acquire them. After merging with CBS Corporation to become ViacomCBS, the combined firm resumed talks with Miramax.
Skydance era (2019–present)
On December 20, 2019, ViacomCBS (later named Paramount Global) announced it would acquire a 49% stake in Miramax for at least $375 million, with Paramount Pictures gaining exclusive worldwide distribution rights to its film and television library. Paramount Pictures and Miramax will also co-produce new content based on titles from the library. The deal officially closed on April 3, 2020.
On June 24, 2020, Miramax and ViacomCBS announced their first co-production, The Turkish Detective, a television series based on the Cetin Ikmen novels by Barbara Nadel.
On October 2, 2023, it was announced that CEO Bill Block would be leaving the company that week following the end of his contract with them, starting his own production company, BlockFilm, later that month. In January 2024, Jonathan Glickman was reported to be in talks to join Miramax as CEO, with his company Panoramic Media expected to be acquired by Miramax if talks were successful. On April 2, 2024, Glickman was officially named Miramax's new CEO effective immediately. As part of the deal, Miramax also acquired certain film and television projects from Glickman's company Panoramic Media.
From Wikipedia’s article on Miramax, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4