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Coming off Colin Firth’s best actor win at the Venice Film Festival, Tom Ford’s debut picture A Single Man wound up the subject of what is being hyped as a “fierce all-night” bidding war between Focus Features, Summit Entertainment, and The Weinstein Co. (*UPDATE: Summit execs circled until 1:30 AM and then went to sleep.*) I’ve learned the bidding for the adaptation of a novel by Christopher Isherwood was orchestrated by Ford’s pal Bryan Lourd with Roeg Sutherland. 
After its pic The Road was blanked at Venice, The Weinstein Co turned around and bought the U.S. and German rights to A Single Man for 7 figures after committing to a 2009 release and Oscar campaign. “CAA and Tom Ford wanted the right person to bring the film to the marketplace. It wasn’t just about money,” an insider told me. I heard Harvey Weinstein clinched the deal after sitting down with Ford and personally laying out his marketing strategy for the pic. But did smooth-talker Harv explain that the under-restructuring Weinstein Company is a gutted biz with all the recent layoffs? Or that a slew of other promised 2009 releases have been pushed back against their filmmakers’ will? I would have chosen Focus Features…
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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Did Harvey used hypnosis or something? Because how else could he talk anyone into selling their film to him with the state of TWC?
Here’s a quick test, find the people who signed the deal, and snap your fingers, if they start clucking like a chicken, then we’ve cracked Harvey’s secret.
Yeah. CAA comes out brilliantly in this one. Tom Ford got *done*. For seven figures, sure, but still. The “insider” is being, methinks, disingenuous. What else could it have been about other than the seven figures? Having your picture picked up by The Weinstein Co., or being locked in a dark room and repeatedly kicked in the throat. Your choice.
With what MONEY did they buy the rights??
Memo to Tom Ford: you just made the biggest mistake of your short-lived film career. Harvey Weinstein, really? Over Focus?!!!!!! Over anyone?!!! Your film would be better served by making DVD copies and dumping them on the sidewalk to be sold by bootleg vendors in major cities, and asking them to kick back 20 cents per disc – because Weinstein will unceremoniously dump your little film to the sidewalk with almost no visible advertising support or any ingenuity in the marketing campaign. You’d have more luck turning it into a Viewmaster film and selling it through Target. Weinstein is a great pick-up artist, but he’s a one night stand and your film will be left wanting his warm sweet embrace the morning after – while he chases down next week’s flavor of the month. Welcome to dysfunction central on every level. And just make sure you have an injunctive release clause in your contract, because he’ll release your film any way he chooses and hide behind his legal department. Honestly, Tom, I thought you were smarter than that.
I’m confused. How could anyone with any understanding of the current business climate have gone with the Weinsteins? I know in the ’90s they practically had the golden touch when it came to making Academy Award winning material (including the campaign), but it’s a new century.
Maybe it actually was about the money and getting the payday up front?
Wow… Not bad for a company with no money.
from what i heard, focus features did not even make an offer…
I had the privelege of seeing A SINGLE MAN last year at a private screening. I have been wondering for the last six months about who was going to step up to the plate with some guts and passion to distribute this film.
What I found most enjoyable about the story and the way it is told, is that the themes of love and loss are truly universal. Colin Furth, Julienne Moore and Nicholas Hoult all put in superb performances. Combined with great photography, art direction and costume design, the emotion of the story is very compelling.
For those looking for the standard “queer cinema” fare, (how I hate that descriptor), be prepared for a lot more. This story transcends all the stereotypes and cliches about gay relationships.
Hats should be off to Harvey and company for taking this one on. Here’s to a successful release, mainstream crossover and the future desreved recognition of Mr. Ford’s efforts in bringing A SINGLE MAN to the screen.
Me thinks that the above posters don’t understand the Weinsteins financial situation. These guys got money now…..at least for the next year.
then why are they so stingy with the greenlights lately? even the ones they’ve already poured development money into? why keep buying stuff when you can’t afford to put out what you’ve already done? maybe they don’t even quite understand their own finances.
Yea we do. Looking forward to adding this into the awards conversation. Basterds will make 123+
Even if they have money to buy stuff so they can splash headlines to look like they are doing better – they still probably don’t have enough for a decent campaign and so it is likely to get shelved… I am so often amazed that despite all the broken promises and shelved films set out in Down n Dirty Pictures and then all the recent release “delays” – that people still think their project will be different – they’ll be special and all those bad things that happened to other people won’t happen to them….sad really.
I am sure they put a good clause in the contract if some milestones were not met, they could walk. So how much money gave TWC upfront?
even if they do have money now or for a year, they are incapable of releasing a movie. what a shame for this guys movie.
The Weinsteins must have a plan regarding Colin Firth because they also really pushed for him to be cast in THE KING’S SPEECH, which they are distributing. Firth got the coveted role. They do know how to get actors major awards, and something is certainly in the works for Firth.
Your argument is valid if they do not release. If they do release, your argument is not valid. Thus, this is the only real issue regarding the financial angle.
They are opening with an award season strategy. If the goal is to use the award season to build like Milk or Brokeback, then I think this movie will do very well considering the price.
Brokeback was 11 mil. Milk cost 20 mil. This movie was 2.5. It is no surprise that Focus did not bid, if that’s true, considering Focus put out two gay movies recently with Milk and the more crappy Ang Lee movie.
This is not about starting with gobs of cash. There is a) a built in gay audience that’s hungry for movies of this calibre; b) the movie has crossover appeal to straight audiences (again think Brokeback with women and the choice of lead actors should also appeal to them). Due to the gay audience, I expect given the buzz that it will almost certainly be sold out in the first few weeks just in time for the critics best of list and followed by award season buzz.
I did a quick search- the movie is obtaining great reviews (i.e., indiewire list several reviewers giving it an A) online in a year where there are not a lot of strong contenders. So, there is even going to probably be some buzz virally in the online arena.
I think this was a shrewd move by a company facing economic problems because for 2.5 mil (or something like that) I think they will see B.O. domestically of 30 to 40 mil if this movie does well at the box office. But, time will tell.
Incidentally, that guestimate of box office is from thinking about what Milk earned last year rather than Brokeback. Unlike Brokeback, A Single Man is not about two good looking 20somethings so I am not as certain about the appeal, but do think there will be enough to rise to the Milk level box office.
wasn’t this deal done prior to tiff for the most part? weinsten’s name showed up on a tracking report prior to the fest and then was abruptly pulled.