Source:Variety

September 26, 2008

Less than a week since DreamWorks announced that they would be going it on their own without their distribution partner Paramount, The Weinstein Co. and MGM have cut short their distribution deal three months earlier than the original three-year contract, which was scheduled to expire on December 31. Harvey and Bob Weinstein's company will take back seven movies to release between now and the end of the year including Kevin Smith's upcoming Zack and Miri Make a Porno (October 31) and the anticipated adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's The Road (November 14). MGM will still distribute the two planned Dimension Films releases, the comedy Soul Men (November 7) with Samuel L. Jackson and the late Bernie Mac and Forest Whitaker's sports drama Hurricane Season (December 25).

The two companies decided to exit the distribution agreement after The Weinstein Company (TWC) signed its own TV deal with Showtime, bypassing MGM's Showtime deal, which was the main reason for the pairing initially. Under the distribution deal, TWC paid for marketing and prints, with MGM taking a distribution fee for booking theaters.

The two companies made the following statements:

The Weinstein Company: "This transition was always anticipated and now it has been amicably executed."

MGM: "When it became clear that the deal wouldn't be re-upped, TWC asked for its films back, minus the two Dimension titles, and we agreed."

You can read the rest of this interesting industry news over on Variety.