Miramax
Miramax Films
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legal form | Private |
founding | 1979 |
Seat | Santa Monica |
management | Bill Block ( CEO ) |
Branch | Movies |
Website | www.miramax.com |
Miramax is an American film production and distribution company .
history
Miramax was founded in 1979 by the brothers Harvey Weinstein (* 1952) and Bob Weinstein (* 1954). The company name is a combination of the first names of both parents Miriam and Max .
Miramax was originally founded to distribute films that were made outside of Hollywood : foreign-language films and, above all, so-called independent films that did not find access to the rigid studio system in the 1980s and were considered commercially unattractive.
The documentary The Randall Adams Case , which enabled the condemned Adams to be re-examined and released, made Miramax known nationwide in 1988.
A year later, Sex, Lies and Video won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival . The scandalous films The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989), Tie Me Up! (1990) and Reservoir Dogs - Wild Dogs (1992) increased the awareness of Miramax steadily. In 1994 Pulp Fiction was a great commercial success, the film grossed US $ 214 million worldwide at a production cost of US $ 8.5 million, thus paving the way for other small film studios as well .
The company became a Disney subsidiary in 1993 for a price of US $ 75 million and provided Miramax with a US $ 700 million budget . Much of this amount was used to build up stars like Ben Affleck , Jude Law , Gwyneth Paltrow , Quentin Tarantino and Renée Zellweger , who, as in the old Hollywood system, seldom made films without Miramax. In addition, Bob Weinstein founded the subsidiary Dimension Films , which operates with series such as Scream - Schrei! (1996–2011) and Scary Movie (2000–2006) grossed an additional million at the box office.
Although Miramax was among the top ten most successful studios (their films grossed over $ 2 billion in 2003 alone and were nominated for 40 Academy Awards), Disney made the most important decisions, which ended in public disputes: 1996 had to be risky classified film project Lord of the Rings to be abandoned. The break between the Weinstein brothers and Disney finally came when the distribution of the documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) was banned. The Weinsteins bought the rights to the project from their private fortune, founded the Fellowship Adventure Group and saw themselves confirmed by the success of the Michael Moore film.
As the Weinsteins Disney could not pay the purchase price of Miramax (2 billion US dollars), both brothers left their company in September 2005: Disney kept the 550 Miramax films in total, but left them with ongoing film productions, Dimension Films and a transfer fee of 140 million US dollars, with which the brothers founded The Weinstein Company . Between October 2005 and January 2010 Daniel Battsek headed the company, which under his leadership could not build on past successes.
On January 29, 2010, the parent company Disney announced that it would close Miramax and lay off all employees. No further films are to be published, although there are still six unpublished and completed productions in the repertoire of the distributor.
On July 30, 2010 it was announced that Miramax was sold by Disney to a group of investors (Filmyard Holding) around Ron Tutor for a sum of 640 million US dollars. The aim of the group is to "[...] produce a few films per year" after making small investments in the studio. As part of the sale, Disney moved the ongoing production of some films to Touchstone Pictures , such as The Tempest, and Gnomeo and Juliet .
On December 16, 2010, Filmyard Holding announced that it had established a new partnership with the Weinstein brothers. In cooperation with The Weinstein Company , sequels to successful Miramax films are to be shot - these include Rounders , Bad Santa and Shakespeare in Love .
Ron Tutor sold his shares in Miramax in late January 2013 to the state co-owner Qatar Investment Authority . In 2016 Miramax was sold by the Qatar Investment Authority to the beIN Media Group based in Doha in the Emirate of Qatar.
The greatest Miramax successes
This table shows the ten most successful Miramax films based on global box office earnings.
rank | Movie title | year | worldwide import |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Chicago | 2002 | US $ 306 million |
2 | Shakespeare in Love | 1998 | US $ 289 million |
3 | Scary Movie | 2000 | US $ 278 million |
4th | The English patient | 1996 | US $ 231 million |
5 | Life is Beautiful | 1997 | US $ 228 million |
6th | Good Will Hunting | 1997 | $ 225 million |
7th | Aviator | 2004 | US $ 213 million |
8th | pulp Fiction | 1994 | US $ 213 million |
9 | Master & Commander - To the end of the world | 2003 | US $ 210 million |
10 | The Others | 2001 | US $ 209 million |
Oscars
The qualitative strength of Miramax Films and the infamous Oscar - propaganda of tartar in the aggressive style of the old Hollywood resulted in a considerable success in the award of the prices by the Film Academy of the United States . Miramax won the following awards:
- 2007
- No Country for Old Men : Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay Based on Literature, Best Supporting Actor ( Javier Bardem )
- There Will Be Blood : Best Actor ( Daniel Day-Lewis ), Best Cinematography
- 2006
- The Queen : Best Actress ( Helen Mirren )
- 2005
- Tsotsi : Best Foreign Language Film
- 2004
- Aviator : Best Supporting Actress ( Cate Blanchett ), Best Production Design, Best Cinematography, Best Costumes, Best Editing
- When dreams learn to fly : the best music
- 2003
- Master & Commander - To the end of the world : Best camera, best sound effects
- The Barbarian Invasion : Best Foreign Language Film
- On the way to Cold Mountain : Best Supporting Actress ( Renée Zellweger )
- 2002
- Chicago : Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress ( Catherine Zeta-Jones ), Best Production Design, Best Costumes, Best Editing, Best Sound
- Frida : Best mask, best music
- The Hours : Best Actress ( Nicole Kidman )
- 2001
- Iris : Best Supporting Actor ( Jim Broadbent )
- 1999
- God's work and the devil's contribution : Best script based on a literary model, best supporting actor ( Michael Caine )
- 1998
- Life is Beautiful : Best Foreign Language Film, Best Actor ( Roberto Benigni ), Best Music in the Drama Category
- Shakespeare in Love : Best Film, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actress ( Gwyneth Paltrow ), Best Supporting Actress ( Judi Dench ), Best Production Design, Best Costumes, Best Music in the Comedy Category
- 1997
- Good Will Hunting : Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor ( Robin Williams )
- 1996
- On a knife's edge : the best script based on a literary model
- Jane Austen's Emma : Best Music in the Comedy Category
- The English Patient : Best Film, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress ( Juliette Binoche ), Best Production Design, Best Cinematography, Best Costumes, Best Music in the Drama Category, Best Editing, Best Sound
- Kolya : Best Foreign Language Film
- 1995
- Beloved Aphrodite : Best Supporting Actress ( Mira Sorvino )
- Der Postmann : Best Music in the Drama Category
- Time of sensuality : Best production design, best costumes
- 1994
- Bullets Over Broadway : Best Supporting Actress ( Dianne Wiest )
- Pulp Fiction : Best Original Screenplay
- 1993
- The Piano : Best Original Screenplay, Best Actress ( Holly Hunter ), Best Supporting Actress ( Anna Paquin )
- 1992
- The Crying Game : Best Original Screenplay
- 1991
- Mediterraneo : Best Foreign Language Film
- 1990
- American Dream : Best Documentary
- Journey of Hope : Best Foreign Language Film
- 1989
- Cinema Paradiso : Best Foreign Language Film
- My Left Foot : Best Actor ( Daniel Day-Lewis ), Best Supporting Actress ( Brenda Fricker )
- 1988
- Pelle the Conqueror : Best Foreign Language Film
literature
- Peter Biskind: Sex, Lies & Pulp Fiction: Behind the Scenes of the New American Film . Rogner & Bernhard , 2005 , ISBN 3-8077-1004-3 .
Web links
- Miramax in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Official website
Individual evidence
- ↑ miramax.com: About
- ↑ Miramax is closing . moviepilot.de; Retrieved January 29, 2010 from
- ↑ Miramax at the end of Cinema .de; Retrieved January 29, 2010
- ↑ slashfilm.com ( Memento of the original from August 4, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 9, 2010
- ↑ Miramax sold. ( Memento of the original from August 4, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Slashfilm .com; Retrieved July 9, 2010
- ↑ Dylan Stableford: Miramax, Weinstein Co. to Produce Sequels to “Bad Santa,” “Swingers” (updated). The Wrap, December 16, 2010, accessed January 27, 2013 .
- ↑ Ron Tutor Sells Stake In Miramax: Report. Hollywood Deadline, January 22, 2013, accessed January 27, 2013 .