Miramax Films golden children Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez are teaming up to make a film for the new company established by the studio’s founders, Bob and Harvey Weinstein.
Tarantino and Rodriguez will each write and direct a 60-minute horror film, and the two films will be packaged under the title “Grind House,” which is planned for a spring 2006 release through the Weinstein Co.
It also will include its own trailers, bonus materials and added extras from other filmmakers that will be packaged together between the two horror flicks in a tribute to the old, big-city movie houses like those on New York’s 42nd Street that earned the moniker grindhouses for programming genre pictures back to back.
Tarantino, whose 1994 thriller “Pulp Fiction” helped turn Miramax into a powerhouse, sampled grindhouse genres in his recent “Kill Bill” films. He said “Grind House” could be the first in a series of films. Rodriguez’ “Spy Kids” movies have been a lucrative franchise for Miramax’s Dimension arm.
The Weinsteins also set release dates for 13 other features, beginning with “Derailed, a suspense thriller directed by Mikael Hafstrom (“Evil”) and starring Clive Owen and Jennifer Aniston. A co-production with the Walt Disney Studios, it will open as a wide release Oct. 21, marking the official launch of the Weinsteins’ new company as a theatrical distributor.
Last week at Cannes, the Weinsteins announced they have secured an equity investment and interim debt financing from Goldman Sachs & Co. as well as commitments from Franco-Tunisian producer and financier Tarak Ben Ammar.
The Weinstein Co. will distribute its theatrical releases itself. The Weinsteins are in discussions with several distributors to handle international theatrical, home entertainment and television distribution. Miramax Films owner Disney will handle the international distribution for all of the projects that are co-productions between Disney and the Weinstein Co.
While the Weinsteins’ new company will be christened with a new, permanent name sometime over the summer, it has set the following release dates:
“Wolf Creek,” the Australian horror film directed by Greg McLean, which the Weinsteins acquired at the Sundance Film Festival, will open Nov. 18 under the Dimension label.
“Matador,” a black comedy about a hitman, co-financed by Disney, starring Pierce Brosnan and directed by Richard Shepard, will open as an exclusive release Nov. 18.
“Transamerica,” a film by Duncan Tucker for which Felicity Huffman won the best actress award at the Tribeca Film Festival for playing a transsexual, will open in exclusive release Dec. 2.
Chen Kaige’s epic “The Promise,” a partnership between IDG New Media Fund and the Weinstein Co., will open exclusively Dec. 16.
“Mrs. Henderson Presents,” another Disney co-financed project, directed by Stephen Fears and starring Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins, will open exclusively Dec. 25.
On paper, “Transamerica,” “The Promise” and “Mrs. Henderson” all look like titles that the Weinsteins will promote for year-end awards consideration.
The Weinstein Co.’s 2006 release schedule to date includes:
“The Gathering,” a thriller from Brian Gilbert starring Christina Ricci, is set for release Jan. 6.
“Feast,” director John Gulager’s horror film, which was the subject of Bravo’s “Project Greenlight 3,” will open Jan. 20.
“Breaking & Entering,” the new Anthony Minghella project starring Jude Law, a co-production with Disney, which has just begun filming, is scheduled for a February release.
“Pulse,” a remake of the Japanese horror film “Kairo,” will be released by Dimension on March 3.
“Killshot,” directed by John Madden, adapted from the Elmore Leonard novel by Hossein Amini and executive produced by Tarantino, will open March 17.
“Scary Movie 4,” a Disney co-production reuniting director David Zucker and his creative team from “Scary Movie 3,” will open wide from Dimension on April 14 for Easter weekend.
“Sin City 2,” a sequel to the recent Rodriguez/Frank Miller film, another Disney co-production, will be released by Dimension in summer 2006.