Caffeinated Clint
Flip me over, douse me in butter, put me on for another 5… and I’m done.
The Weinstein’s are continuing on their plight to add sub titles and roman numerals to anything and everything in their catalogue. And suddenly their treatment of the “Hellraiser” franchise seems fair.
According to Deadline, Colony Capital principal Tom Barrack Jr and The Weinstein Company co-chairmen Harvey and Bob Weinstein have teamed up to produce TV shows, sequels and whatever-the-fuck-else based on some of the best-known movies in their catalogue.
Barrack says he needed Bob and Harvey to make this happen though.
“Sure, we own the intellectual property in the library, and most of the intellectual properties in development, but we didn’t have the art form. If I called Quentin Tarantino and said, I have a great idea how to do a Pulp Fiction TV series, chances are it would be a very short conversation,” Barrack told me. “The ability to take all these threads and sew them into a tapestry, is really the magic elixir. We’ve all decided it’s time for a quantum leap and that’s why we’re all together.”
In addition to a small-screen “Good Will Hunting” (oh, come on!) and “Flirting with Disaster” series, the gang plan to sequelize “Rounders” and “Shakespeare in Love”.
“It’s like unlocking a kingdom full of gold, which Tom describes as diamonds,” said Harvey Weinstein. “In an age where there is so much demand for television, we see a lot of TV series. I personally have never made a sequel, but I will make Shakespeare In Love as one. I’ve always wanted to do that and now we have the impetus to. There is so much intellectual property, and we’re in an age where, for however long it lasts, content is king. Working with Qatar and Colony will for us be a great learning experience.”
“I’ve discussed making Rounders 2 with Matt Damon and I would say that’s going to be instantaneous,” Weinstein continued. “The guys [writers David Levien and Brian Koppelman] have a great idea, a way to make it more international where you start the card game in Paris, that’s all I want to say. There might be a certain beautiful Parisian actress involved in it, and then we’re off to the racetrack and Vegas with Matty and Edward Norton, and a new supervillain to replace John Malkovich.” Robert De Niro has apparently been mentioned as a possible new rogue.
I’ll be as curious as the rest of you to see what they do with these new spin-offs and sequels, but having seen what Bob and Harvey have done with some of the other classics in their catalogue – “Scream 4” anyone? – my jaw remains on the floor until it gets the memo it’s gonna be OK.
