Yesterday, we told you that Disney had amputated its production arm Miramax Films. Today will be its final day of business with offices closing in Los Angeles and New York City. The Weinsteins want the Miramax name back, since the company’s name has family importance. (It was a combination of their parents’ names Miriam and Max.)
The problem is that if you want the Miramax name you also must buy the film library that comes with it. And the price doesn’t come cheap. At one time the estimated sale price was upwards of a billion dollars. Since the studio has been steadily declining over the last three years, a deal may be had for as low as $400 million.
So far the Weinsteins haven’t come forward with an offer. With their absence, Disney has gotten feelers from Summit Entertainment of all studios about buying the name and library. Insiders with Deadline Hollywood say Summit (so far) is the only company to actually contact Disney about the Miramax library.
Still in its infancy, the studio got a monetary boost with the Twilight franchise. Now it’s getting critical aplomb for The Hurt Locker. In addition to Miramax, the studio has been considered one of the likely contenders of acquiring MGM. Either pick up would instill the studio with a solid library of films.
Either acquisition would give Summit a big boost. Even if it’s just the advantage of having a home library to which they could capitalize on with home video revenue, perhaps bringing attention to older titles that have yet to see a DVD release or get the special edition treatment. With MGM, Summit could gain a foothole in the lucrative James Bond franchise, The Hobbit and Robocop, which is in the planning stages of getting rebooted for a whole new audience.
