The siblings understand that things look gloomy. ''People are focused on our theatrical numbers,'' says Harvey. ''Of course, we'd love to have splashy numbers, but right now, we've been building our business.'' The pair envisions TWC as a ''boutique media company,'' and for the past 18 months they've been focused on acquiring assets, like Genius, a video-distribution arm that they say is worth $420 million, and fashion house Halston, which Harvey hopes to mine for celebrity endorsements and product placement on TV shows like the Weinstein-produced Project Runway. Now, he admits, ''it's time to go back to the movie business.'' Smart move, says Cinetic Media founder John Sloss, who sold TWC the John Cusack drama Grace Is Gone at Sundance: ''They've gotten a wake-up call from the marketplace. These films need their hands-on attention.''
Especially since TWC's upcoming slate is such a grab bag. For every long-shelved, youth-friendly movie like Zach Braff's The Ex (May 11) and fall's Hayden Christensen-Mischa Barton period romance Virgin Territory, there are prestige projects including Richard Gere's Spring Break in Bosnia, the Denzel Washington-directed The Great Debaters, and the just-announced Sean Penn-Harrison Ford immigration drama Crossing Over. The latter films will, Harvey insists, ''reestablish the company's artistic reputation.'' That is, provided their coffers aren't empty. The Weinsteins won't divulge figures, but they scoff at rumors that they're burning through cash — and deny that they moved The Nanny Diaries from April 20 to Sept. 7 because they've run out of funds to market the Scarlett Johansson dramedy properly. ''Oh, my God,'' Bob groans. ''That's one we haven't heard. Look, we raised $1.2 billion. We've got [money].'' (Harvey claims they held back the film to avoid competing with summer blockbusters.)
The sting of Grindhouse's failure might linger for a while, but producer Mark Gill, who worked with the Weinsteins for eight years at Miramax, warns against predicting their demise: ''That's precisely the moment when they pull 12 rabbits out of the hat.'' Declares Bob, ''We're not giving up. We never do.''
Additional reporting by Joshua Rich and Nicole Sperling
What message should the box-office bloodbath suffered by Grindhouse send to Quentin Tarantino? Mark Harris has an idea in The Final Cut.
