THE SKINNY
B.O. cume: $258 million
Toppers: Harvey Weinstein, co-chairman; Bob Weinstein, co-chairman
New Releases: “Feast” (Sept. 22), “School for Scoundrels” (Sept. 29), “Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker” (Oct. 6), “Bobby” (Nov. 17), “Breaking and Entering” (Dec. 8), “Black Christmas” (Dec. 25), “Miss Potter” (Dec. 29)
The Weinstein Co. and its genre arm Dimension Films have been on an ambitious track over the past year as Bob and Harvey Weinstein angle to build the media titan they feel the Walt Disney Co. never allowed them to create with Miramax Films.
With more than $1 billion in financial backing, the pieces of the biz plan have come together, if not the hit films to feed the pipeline. Wheeling and dealing, the brothers have found an outlet for their theatrical films in MGM, and they also instantly created a homevideo arm when they grabbed a majority stake in DVD label Genius Products.
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Theatrically so far the company’s biggest hit has been “Scary Movie 4,” a pic that nabbed more than $90 million but is still a leftover from the days in the Mouse House (which gets a piece of the “Scary” cheese). With the formidable Dimension label, the brothers are now trying to create a few hit franchises of their very own, which could potentially include the highly anticipated Robert Rodriguez/ Quentin Tarantino tag-team “Grind House” as well as a planned spoof on superhero pics.
TWC’s first foray into CG animation, “Hoodwinked,” was also a moneymaker ($50 million-plus), and the pic’s success subsequently sent the company on a toon tear, with projects from “Igor” to “Escape From Planet Earth” as well as a “Hoodwinked” sequel.
On the exec front, the core of the company is coming into focus after various shifts. Agnes Mentre, the Weinsteins’ longtime acquisitions topper, ankled after Cannes, with her deputies Michelle Krumm and Maeva Gatineau moving into the department’s top spots.
The Weinsteins — who became synonymous with bare-knuckle awards campaigning at Miramax — weren’t totally absent from the Oscar races last year (“Mrs. Henderson Presents” scored two noms). This time around, they’ll be counting on their “Cold Mountain” and “Chicago” star Renee Zellweger to take them back to the Kodak Theater with the Beatrix Potter biopic “Miss Potter.” They’ll also send Emilio Estevez’s political ensembler “Bobby” into the kudo season fray.