Disney sells Miramax along with rights to Oscar-winning films to Filmyard Holdings, scotching rumours that the company's founders might buy it backAs the final curtain falls on Disney's ownership of Miramax, there is to be no fairytale ending – at least, not for founders the Weinstein brothers, who walked out six years ago after a row over the release of Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11.When the mouse house announced that it was putting its wholly owned unit up for sale in February, there were immediate reports that the sibling producers might try to buy it back. But it has been revealed that the new owners of Miramax are a property tycoon and the owner of a financial investment firm.The company is now controlled by Filmyard Holdings Llc, whose principals are construction executive Ronald Tutor and Colony Capital chairman Tom Barrack. As well as the ability to use the famous Miramax name, the duo now control rights to more than 700 film titles, including Oscar-winning films such as Chicago, Shakespeare in Love and No Country for Old Men.Bob and Harvey Weinstein founded Miramax in 1979, naming it after their parents, Max and Miriam. They sold the company to Disney in 1993, but stayed on as co-chief executives until the acrimonious divorce in 2004, which resulted from then Disney executive Michael Eisner's refusal to release Moore's anti-George Bush polemic Fahrenheit 9/11.The brothers formed a new firm, The Weinstein Company, and, in their absence, Miramax fell on hard times. In October last year, Disney announced it was cutting staff numbers by 70% and reducing the number of releases from between six and eight to just three films per year."Although we are very proud of Miramax's many accomplishments, our current strategy for Walt Disney Studios is to focus on the development of great motion pictures under the Disney, Pixar and Marvel brands," the Disney chief executive, Robert Iger, said. "We are delighted that we have found a home for the Miramax brand and Miramax's very highly regarded motion picture library."Tutor's nascent career as a film-maker was thrown into the spotlight earlier this month when film-maker David O Russell walked away from a long-delayed political satire, Nailed, following disputes over an apparent attempt to cut the pay of key crew members. Tutor had instigated efforts to reduce costs on the movie, which is due to star Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Biel, after taking a financial interest.xf
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