The companies that have emerged in Miramax's wake have, in many ways, tried to emulate the Weinsteins' success: fiercely bidding for hot festival films and waging aggressive Oscar campaigns. But they've also learned there's a crucial distinction between being king and being King Kong. Sure, Weinstein recruited the likes of Tarantino and Kevin Smith, but others, scared by his reputation for railroading directors and recutting films himself, have fled to companies like Fox Searchlight, whose president, Peter Rice, gives filmmakers final cut. As a result, Searchlight now boasts a roster of directors — including David O. Russell, Alexander Payne, and Danny Boyle — once unimaginable anywhere but at Miramax.
Still, given his track record, it would be foolish to bet against Weinstein. ''If Harvey goes back to his roots,'' says Wayne Kramer, director of The Cooler for Lions Gate, ''filmmakers will gravitate back to him, whether he's difficult or not.'' Certainly no one battles harder during awards season. Though Miramax delayed one contender, Proof, with Gwyneth Paltrow, it will no doubt focus on its other holiday Oscar baiters, Finding Neverland, with Johnny Depp, and Martin Scorsese's The Aviator — a big-budget coproduction with Warner Bros. (and probably the kind of movie Miramax won't make many more of).
''No matter what anybody says, Harvey will be back at full throttle very soon,'' says Newmarket Films president Bob Berney. ''He loves movies, he can't stop. One way or another, he'll be around.''
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