Disney Co. grinds Miramax to pulp

Once-pioneering studio shuttered by Mouse House

Uma Thurman in Miramax's "Pulp Fiction."

   

The curtains have closed on Miramax Films, the legendary art house studio behind such classic independent films as “Pulp Fiction,” “Shakespeare in Love” and “The Piano.”

 

The Walt Disney Co., which took control of the company in 2005, last week closed Miramax’s New York and Los Angeles offices, and about 80 staffers are said to be out of a job.

 

Founded by Bob and Harvey Weinstein in 1979, Miramax was known for campaigning aggressively for accolades. During its heyday in the 1990s, it picked up dozens of Academy Awards for films including “Good Will Hunting” and “The English Patient.” The com-pany made its mark with a string of low-budget hits such as “Clerks” and “Sex, Lies and Videotape,” and launched the careers of filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino and Kevin Smith. “I’m crushed to see it pass into history, because I owe everything I have to Miramax,” Kevin Smith, the director of “Clerks,” wrote on his blog. “Without them, I’d still be a New Jersey convenience store register jockey. In practice, not just in my head.”

 

The company was also responsible for a host of theater-to-film adaptations, including Rob Marshall’s Academy Award-winning film version of the musical “Chicago,” which won six Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Other releases include the screen version of John Patrick Stanley’s “Doubt,” starring Meryl Streep, and “Pinero,” a bio-drama about playwright Miguel Pinero. Miramax brought several Shakespeare plays to the screen, including “Hamlet,” released in 2000, which starred Ethan Hawke in the iconic title role.

 

The closure doesn’t come as a surprise to industry insiders. Miramax had been scaling back its release plans and shedding jobs for months. In October, it was announced that Miramax’s movie production would be reduced to three per year, down from six to eight. Disney confirmed it has six Miramax films to be distributed through 2011, including “The Baster” and “The Debt” set for this fall. -Lucy Butcher

 

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