The writing was on the wall when Disney made this announcement, but The Wrap is reporting that today the studio will be closing the New York and Los Angeles offices of Miramax Films and 80 people will lose their jobs.
The site says that six movies awaiting distribution, including Last Night, The Debt and The Tempest, will be shelved or get a tepid release.
Founded in 1979 by Bob and Harvey Weinstein, Miramax was a leading independent movie distribution and production company before it was acquired by Disney in 1993. In 2005, the Weinsteins decided to leave the company and founded The Weinstein Company.
“I’m feeling very nostalgic right now,” Harvey Weinstein told the site yesterday. “I know the movies made on my and my brother Bob’s watch will live on as well as the fantastic films made under the direction of Daniel Battsek. Miramax has some brilliant people working within the organization and I know they will go on to do great things in the industry.”
The Weinsteins have tried to buy the name of their former company back. Disney has not responded. But Bob Iger has made it known that he would be willing to sell Miramax outright for about $1.5 billion.
For more on this, click here. You can check out Miramax’s “Signature Films” at its official website.
