Miramax interested in Johnny Depp's THE LIBERTINE?
Hold on to your hats and grab the Maalox, Deppfans–word from the Toronto Film Festival is that Miramax, the studio which is bringing us FINDING NEVERLAND . . . eventually . . . someday . . . at least in one or two cities in the U.S. . . . is also interested in obtaining the rights to distribute THE LIBERTINE. Ian Mohr of The Hollywood Reporter writes that Miramax chairman Harvey Weinstein flew to Toronto especially to attend THE LIBERTINE screening on Thursday night, September 16th. Weinstein’s action was unusual because most studio executives were taking planes out of Toronto, not in, as the film festival winds down. Mohr adds, “Besides checking out the film, Weinstein was likely on hand to support Depp, who plays the lead in Miramax’s Oscar hopeful FINDING NEVERLAND.” While we applaud Harvey’s impulse to support Johnny’s work, one has to wonder if Miramax would be the best choice of distributor for THE LIBERTINE, given the studio’s well-known financial problems and the rate at which they are postponing the release of completed films. Surely there is a less nerve-wracking distributor out there who would like to promote THE LIBERTINE and would bring it into U.S. theaters in a timely and reliable fashion. One can only hope! Thanks, Emma, for posting the Hollywood Reporter story on the News & Views forum. You can read the full article here .