Back in late July, it seemed like a done deal that Miramax, the company co-founded by Harvey and Bob Weinstein, would be sold to a group called Filmyard Holdings before the end of the year. Is was great news as the company continues to hold some fantastic titles and the sale would allow not-yet-released features to find the light of day. Too bad that it's not going to be that simple.
Variety reports that the deal has hit a speed bump as the announcement came before the bulk of the financing had been established. Sold to construction magnate Ron Tutor for $660 million, it was expected that most of the money would come from Tutor himself, his partners, James Robinson of Morgan Creek Productions, and philanthropist Jerome Swartz. The rest of the money, somewhere between $250-275 million, would be made up by banks. As of now, however, it appears that both Robinson and Swartz have dropped out and the banks have not yet finalized the loan. Did I say speed bump? What I meant to say was giant brick wall.
It's obviously a bit of a public relations nightmare that the deal was announced so far in advance and Disney didn't respond to make a comment about the situation. The deal was initially expected to go through sometime between September 10th and the end of the year, so Tutor does still have time to get things together. Sadly, the situation doesn't look great, but we can keep our fingers crossed.
