Harvey Weinstein to make a splash at Cannes...

...but not in the way you'd expect, according to Deadline:

We hear the deal to put the Miramax name and library under new ownership is done. But the reason there is no announcement is that Harvey Weinstein wants to make a publicity splash at the Cannes Film Festival which kicks off Wednesday. [UPDATE: Harvey's camp just told us: "We'd love to announce at Cannes. We're very close but if you go to Loeb & Loeb on the 25th floor, there are 3 boardrooms of people still negotiating." Deadline stands by its story.]

We've learned that the Weinstein Brothers/Ron Burkle/Fortress-Colbeck partnership has finally settled for a price of around $650 million — which, on the surface, seems like more than Burkle wanted to pay, and less than Disney expected to receive. [UPDATE: The Weinsteins will claim the price is "under $625M", but Disney will privately say it's "above $650M" and more like $700M.]

You may remember that Deadline (which broke the story that Disney was selling the Miramax library in the first place) predicted that the parent company would haggle a higher price than the $625 million Burkle was offering at the start of his exclusive negotiating window with the studio starting April 17th. That window was supposed to remain open for only 5 days, but extended because of a strategic end game.

In order to get the price down for Burkle and up for Disney, both sides engaged in some last minute bargaining over the timetable for expected receivables and the list of included assets. Team Harvey tried to convince Disney to move some or all of those $200M receivables coming in for the next 36 months to the 2009 calendar year, so it would look as if Burkle were paying less for Miramax than he actually is. (Burkle is putting up 1/2 the sale price, with the NY hedge fund Fortress-Colbeck footing the rest. The Weinsteins put up no money.) Meanwhile, Disney stuck firm to its $700 million price, until enough real assets had been taken out of the proposed transaction on the table so the studio didn't feel as if it were selling Miramax at a discount.

Both sides met in the middle on both issues. So don’t believe the hype: the real price Miramax fetched was $700 million. Disney got rid of a defunct asset at a decent price. And Burkle wound up paying above and beyond the $500M it's probably worth. And Harvey and Bob come away with no equity but at least bragging rights to the company named after their parents Miriam and Max, and distribution rights and fees to manage the Miramax library they initially sold to Disney in 1993 for $80 million and then built into 600 titles until the bros were forced to leave it behind in 2005 after a prolonged falling out with Michael Eisner.

One issue that never received any publicity is how Harvey privately used his remaining leverage with Disney to threaten to screw over anyone else who was even thinking of buying Miramax. Under their exit deal in 2005, the Weinstein bros were able to retain a hold over sequel or reboot rights to films like Scream, Spy Kids and some other Dimension titles. Harv, in his inimitable way, was warning Disney and the other buyers that he would do what he could to make developing those projects a nightmare. It was a threat not lost on Disney, which is why the studio is so happy now to be rid of Miramax and finally, Harvey.

But this time, Harvey has met his match in Ron Burkle, who has a history of going to court against anyone involved in his financial investments whom he thinks steps out of line. Just ask Mike Ovitz, Anne Hathaway's former fiance, and Barnes & Noble, which Burkle last week sued over a poison pill provision that prevents him from acquiring 20% or more of the book retailer in order to have a say in how it's run.

-Thoughts?

Harvey and Bob Weinstein to buy back the Miramax name?

Seems like it, according to The Hollywood Reporter:

It looks as if the Weinsteins have managed to fashion a winning bid in the Miramax auction and will take back operating control of the company they founded in 1979 and sold to Disney for $80 million in 1993.

Running the process internally, the Burbank studio for months has been soliciting offers for the recently shut specialty-film unit and its 611-title library.

Miramax founders Harvey and Bob Weinstein had been building enough financial muscle to put together an offer of $600 million or thereabouts, seeking to top bids from such rival suitors as businessmen Alec and Tom Gores and a more controversial one from Hollywood wheeler-dealer David Bergstein.

Harvey and Bob Weinstein have been kibitzing with billionaire financier Ron Burkle throughout the auction process. In addition to Burkle's Yucaipa group, the duo's backers include hedge funds Fortress and Colbeck Capital. In effect, Burkle and friends would be the official buyers, but the Weinsteins effectively would run the operation.

No word yet on when an official announcement of the deal will be made, as Disney lawyers apparently were still going over the financial details provided by the Weinsteins on Thursday.

"No deal has been reached," a Disney spokesperson said Thursday night.

-I'm glad to see the name back where it belongs...thoughts?

Why is Disney having such a hard time selling Miramax?

Well, this article in The Hollywood Reporter tried to make the case as to why:

There might be a reason why bids for Miramax are coming in under what Disney would have liked, and it's not just recession-weary cost-consciousness at play.

Rather, the library is a maze of disparate titles and murky rights. Yes, there are 14 prestige titles that competed for best picture Oscars, three of which nabbed the statuette, but there also is a lot of straight-to-video fare, quirky art pics with little remake potential and other films whose ownership is unclear or hopelessly split.

Even the size of the library has been misstated over and over again. Various reports have placed it at 700 movies, but there are actually only 611 (plus 220 hours of TV episodes) and only slightly more than half of those movies got a domestic theatrical release and can be considered salable quality movies that have potential to keep generating significant revenue.

There also are five unreleased movies in the mix: Julie Taymor's adaptation of Shakespeare's "The Tempest"; the Jennifer Aniston romantic comedy "The Switch" (formerly "The Baster"); the horror thriller "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark"; the thriller "The Debt"; and the romantic comedy "Last Night," starring "Avatar" leading man Sam Worthington.

In its history, Miramax released 359 movies in the domestic theatrical market, and among those only 10 grosses of more than $100 million in North America. The biggest success was "Chicago," released in 2002, which grossed $170 million. Many of the other releases are less desirable, such as "Drag Strip Girl" and "The Deep End." There are also Asian kung fu movies and direct-to-DVD titles.

Miramax's handful of top pics did earn about 220 Academy Awards nominations and won a total of 53 Oscars.

The three bidders for the Disney niche label have different approaches.

Miramax founders Bob and Harvey Weinstein are the management component of a group bidding $600 million, with the equity coming from the Yucaipa Cos., run by Ron Burkle, who is joined by Fortress Investment Group and Colbeck Capital Management.

Out of that bid, about $50 million-$100 million would be paid out during the next few years as a loan from Disney but wouldn't be contingent on the performance of the movies.

No matter who wins Miramax, the Weinsteins retain rights from their 2005 settlement agreement with Disney on more than 25 titles that can only be remade with their participation or approval.

The highest bidder is a group put together by David Bergstein, CEO of Pangea Media Group. Bergstein said Thursday that he did assemble the investors, but he is not personally an investor and at this point is only acting as an adviser to the group. He said the investors include his frequent show business partner Ronald Tutor and two offshore entities run by persons from outside the U.S. whom he declined to name. The producer further said theirs was an all-cash $650 million bid and would have been raised to $700 million if Disney had been willing to include the upcoming animated movie "Gnomeo and Juliet."

Bergstein went on to say that Disney already has done due diligence on his investor group and considers them serious bidders. He said he wanted to make it clear that the bid is unrelated to his own existing companies or to anything having to do with the involuntary bankruptcy action or other lawsuits against him.

As to the five unreleased movies, Bergstein said that under his plan, they would be released by Disney. Who would pay the marketing costs has not been determined, he said.

The third investor group, with a bid of $550 million, is Platinum Equity Partners, run by Tom Gores, and an investment firm run by his brother Alec. They are being advised by their brother Sam, who heads the Paradigm talent agency. The Gores' bid is for all cash, and their plan apparently is to ramp Miramax up and run it as a stand-alone movie company again.

A few of the movies already have led to sequels through the Weinstein Co., most notably "Scream" and "Spy Kids."

One analyst characterized these as exceptions because they are very commercial and lend themselves to further iterations. Most of the rest, said the analyst, are more auteur-driven and therefore of limited financial appeal. In addition, the rights to some of these movies are incomplete: Miramax owns only certain rights in specific parts of the world for "The Aviator" and "Reservoir Dogs," for example.

There also are some movies that originally were licensed for a period of years, typically 25, and are within 10 years of lapsing if the terms are not renegotiated.

Still, caveats aside, bidders are expected to benefit from the available foreign rights on many titles, which could be exploited individually or be the basis to launch digital niche channels.

Disney did not return calls seeking comment. Spokesmen for the Gores and for the Weinsteins declined comment.

-It's an interesting read to me...thoughts?

The End of Miramax Films Arrives

As if we didn't see this coming...The Wrap has broken the story that the movie studio will close its Los Angeles and New York offices. Over 80 individuals will also join the millions that have lost their jobs. The film studio has on its shelf a few projects including Julie Taymor's The Tempest with Academy Award Winner Helen Mirren and Nominee Djimon Hounsou. Reports say they will be given either a tepid release or sold.

It's hard to believe at one point this was the same studio that brought the big award juggernauts, Pulp Fiction, Shakespeare in Love, and The English Patient.

Guess nothing lasts forever. R.I.P.