RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Check out the new RT Community
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Features
  • | Columns
  • | Guides
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
News
Weinsteins Sign Interim Agreement with WGA
Unnamed "industry executives" yawn, check watches.
by Jeff Giles | January 11, 2008
Discuss Article
Add The Weinstein Company to the list of studios that have signed interim agreements with the Writers Guild of America.

Harvey Weinstein confirmed the deal in an interview this morning, saying "It's important for the business to get the ball rolling and get back to work." According to the Los Angeles Times, The Weinstein Company's deal "mirrors the pacts that the union recently signed with United Artists...and David Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants Inc."

Between inking various interim deals, shrinking the Golden Globes down to press-conference size, and wreaking havoc with Oscar plans, the WGA seems to be having a pretty good week for itself -- but, as the Times notes, "Without one of the big players making such a deal, these interim agreements are unlikely to have much influence in ending the strike, according to industry executives."

Of course, that's according to industry executives -- they'd probably say the strikers were going to burst into flames from picket friction if they thought anyone would believe them -- but it's a point well-taken. United Artists and The Weinstein Company, though both certain to benefit from their WGA deals, are also two of the more hit-starved studios in Hollywood, and unless they can do better with the scripts currently deluging their offices than they did with recent releases such as Lions for Lambs and The Nanny Diaries, those smug "industry executives" could wind up being right on the money. Literally.

Source: Los Angeles Times

Related Items
Movie: The Nanny Diaries
Lions for Lambs
Celeb: David Letterman
Harvey Weinstein
Bookmark and Share
Comments (1-7 of 7 posts) | Reply
BowieSwimmer
BowieSwimmer writes:
on Jan 11 2008 05:27 AM

The Weinstein Company hasn't put out a hit in months...or even a truly quality movie.
While Grindhouse is one of my favorite films of the year, it certainly wasn't a box office hit. At all.
So is this news great? Well, its great that a studios are finally trying to resolve the issue. I just wish it was a larger studio that released more quality films.

...and why is Strike (2002) the featured movie?
I mean its hilarious, I get it, but its just so [beautifully] random.


(Reply to this)
Elmeliac
Elmeliac writes:
on Jan 11 2008 06:07 AM

This whole affair is really quite terrible, 24 has come to a halt!! I need my Bauer fix ASAP!

(Reply to this)
highdough
highdough writes:
on Jan 11 2008 10:09 AM

It's interesting that the deal the WGA is offering is god enough for World-Wide Pants, UA and the Weinstein Company, yet the multinational corporations, I mean major studios won't even negotiate. Mmm.

(Reply to this)
minderbinder
minderbinder writes:
on Jan 11 2008 12:25 PM

It's not a big step, but every company that signs an agreement chips away at the AMPTP's position.

It's pretty hard for them to defend refusing to even talk with the WGA when more and more of these small companies are saying that the WGA's requests are completely reasonable and they're willing to accept them.

While UA and Weinstein haven't had a hit lately, this has the potential to be a BIG advantage for them. Since they are the only ones working on new projects, it's a chance to attract better talent than usual, and if the strike drags on long enough they could have films in the theatre with little competition from the big studios. But then again, the studios will likely give in if the strike is still going on and they run out of films to release.


(Reply to this)
airsickmoth
airsickmoth writes:
on Jan 11 2008 02:13 PM

Maybe if Warner switched sides we could declare this war finally over. I mean they do seem to have a lot of effect on battles of will recently.

(Reply to this)
lamer
lamer writes:
on Jan 12 2008 12:37 AM

In reply to this comment (#1454610)
You mean in the same way as the HD-DVD/Blu Ray incident?

...guess you aren't too far off.


(Reply to this)
Matanuki
Matanuki writes:
on Jan 12 2008 06:03 PM

In reply to this comment (#1454170)
You know something, Mindbender, I wouldn't mind if the bigger studios suffered the ultimate cost of their stubbornness. If they disappeared altogether and the smaller companies who can concede to the notion of offering writers respect took over the entire business. F**k em all, I say if they won't negotiate. We'll see how well they do in the box-office without writers. I laugh at the thought.

(Reply to this)
Read More Comments
Page | 1
Post Your Comment
You must be registered to post comments. Login or Register.

Related Links

The Strike
  • Pictures
  • Posters
  • News
  • Forum

Related Articles

  • So Long, Writers' Strike! (18)
  • Writers' Strike (Tentatively) Over! (20)
  • Sources Hint at Breakthrough in Writers' Strike (14)
  • Writers Guild Totally Rejects Nu Image/Millennium (17)
  • Lionsgate, Marvel, RKO Reach Agreements With Writers Guild (24)
  • Writers Guild, AMPTP Prepping for New Round of Negotiations (17)
  • Producers Reach Agreement With Directors Guild, Invite Writers Back to Negotiating Table (15)
  • Academy Says Oscars Will Go On (21)
  • Spyglass, MRC Join Growing List of WGA-Approved Studios (2)
  • Weinsteins Sign Interim Agreement with WGA (7)

Most Discussed

  • Total Recall: George Clooney's Best Movies (91)
  • Critics Consensus: A Christmas Carol Dazzles But Disappoints (43)
  • Ho-ho-horror! 10 Scary Christmas Movies (36)
  • Weekly Ketchup: Abrams eyes Micronauts, Aykroyd as Yogi Bear (33)
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Christmas Carol Tops, Precious Rocks (32)
  • Friday Harvest: Prince of Persia, The Road, and more! (25)
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview (14)
  • RT on DVD: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (0)

Latest News

  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Christmas Carol Tops, Precious Rocks (32)
  • Weekly Ketchup: Abrams eyes Micronauts, Aykroyd as Yogi Bear (33)
  • Friday Harvest: Prince of Persia, The Road, and more! (25)
  • Critics Consensus: A Christmas Carol Dazzles But Disappoints (43)
  • Ho-ho-horror! 10 Scary Christmas Movies (36)
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview (14)
  • RT on DVD: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (0)
  • Total Recall: George Clooney's Best Movies (91)
  • 12 Facts About 2012 (132)
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: This Is It Tops Box Office Worldwide (55)

Latest Interviews

  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview (14)
  • Richard Kelly chats about The Box (1)
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus (15)
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview (8)
  • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film (28)
  • Gavin Hood Talks Wolverine; Possible Sequel (28)
  • Duncan Jones talks Moon, Sam Rockwell, and Mute (14)
  • Emma Stone talks Zombieland - RT Interview (40)
  • Michael Moore: The RT Interview (139)
  • Andrea Arnold talks Fish Tank - RT Interview (4)

Latest Features

  • Ho-ho-horror! 10 Scary Christmas Movies (36)
  • RT on DVD: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (0)
  • 12 Facts About 2012 (132)
  • RT on DVD: Star Trek Beams In (4)
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus (15)
  • Five Favourite Films with 24's Carlos Bernard (33)
  • Six Horrible Part Sixes (32)
  • RT on DVD: Land of the Lost and Hannah Montana (5)
  • Christopher Smith's Favourite Cult Horror Films (14)
  • Gavin Hood Talks Wolverine; Possible Sequel (28)

Sponsored Links

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.