The ruffled feathers between Miramax and The Weinstein Company seem to have been smoothed, with the news that the two entities are set to embark on a newly reinvigorated beautiful friendship.
What that appears to mean immediately is sequels, and lots of them. First out of the gate, if all goes to plan, will be the further adventures of Bad Santa, Shakespeare in Love and **Rounders, with Bridget Jones, From Dusk Til Dawn, Swingers, Clerks, and The Amityville Horror all also mooted for future instalments. Scary Movie, Scream and Spy Kids are all continuing to lumber on as franchises already, with Scream 4 arriving earliest on April 15, 2011.
The slew of familiar names has to do with the Weinsteins only controlling "library" titles under the new arrangement. Miramax's CEO Mike Lang enthused that "We are thrilled to work with Harvey and Bob Weinstein. There is no better partner to build on these great films, turn them into franchises... and extend the Miramax library."
The Weinsteins meanwhile, stated "We are very close to these films, and the new management of Miramax also feels that we are in the best position to create sequels that are worthy and compelling in their own right. We look forward to working with Mike and his team on getting these films into production as soon as possible, and extending our partnership in the years ahead."
Some of the titles mentioned seem more likely than others. A third Bridget Jones, a second Bad Santa and an nth Amityville have been talked up before, and while From Dusk Til Dawn has already had two sequels, one of which was a period Western, it would seem like a reasonable contender for an expanded mythology.
On the other hand, Kevin Smith said only recently that he'd only consider returning to the Clerks well once Randall and co. were well into their forties. And did anyone ever ask for more of Shakespeare in Love? Swingers and Rounders are being developed for TV.
We're saying that more Bad Santa can only be a good thing, but we can take or leave the rest. The good news about the reinvigorated Miramax however, is that shelved titles like Don't Be Afraid of the Dark and The Debt should now see the light of day sooner rather than later...