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EXCLUSIVE: Another day on the Croisette brings another major distribution deal. After an all-night auction, The Weinstein Company emerged with U.S. distribution rights to The Iron Lady, the Pathe pic that stars Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher. I’m told the deal was worth near $7 million and that Weinstein Company made it with Ron Burkle and his Yucaipa banner. I’m also told that Alliance will distribute in Canada. I’d heard last night that the likes of Summit, Relativity Media and Fox Searchlight chased it. There were at least two bids on the table at $6 million.
Numerous bidders were in on the action after Pathe showed five minutes of footage here. Harvey Weinstein will definitely open the film during Oscar season, relying on another British politics tale after The King’s Speech won Best Picture honors last year. Weinstein, his lieutenant David Glasser and Burkle worked into the night to make the deal. It is the same partnership structure they employed when that made the Sundance acquisitions My Idiot Brother and The Details. For TWC, it has already been a busy fest. They acquired world rights to Paul Thomas Anderson’s next film before the fest started, made a quick acquisition of the black-and-white silent film The Artist, and they bought the Chinese film Dragon, both official festival selections.
Streep reunites with her Mamma Mia! director Phyllida Lloyd in the Abi Morgan-scripted film that also stars Harry Lloyd, Richard E. Grant and Jim Broadbent.
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I’m sure that this was one of Oliver Stone’s projects six or seven years ago and he wanted Meryl Streep to play Margaret Thatcher.
There is no doubt, that this movie is going to be a huge hit Stateside… Will play similar to Kings Speech! Exciting news
Now way, never going to happen.
So this loathsome woman’s actions against her own people in the service of bankers will be reverentially rewritten for drooling moviegoers? All of the press clippings, with none of the venom?
This woman is an icon of something, but it isn’t admirable.
I love the idea of an iconic actress like Streep playing this iconic female politician. Great casting, and I can’t wait to see it.
The Weinsteins are BRILLIANT. I can’t wait to see this movie. Of course they will release it for Oscar consideration. That’s what they do – win Oscars – because they pick the best films.
I can’t wait to see who will play Reagan and Gorby.
This movie will be quite the marketing challenge in the US. Meryl Streep is likely to be superb in her performance. But the real Thatcher was, and still is, a divisive character.
American conservatives of a certain age appreciate her as a stalwart ally of Reagan. American liberals who followed what went on in the UK in the 80s know of a much despised figure who dismantled Britain’s cherished welfare state and smashed that nation’s miners. (Well depicted in films such as “Billy Elliot” and “Brassed Off”)
Younger conservatives and liberals will probably say “Margaret WHO?”
The only way to bypass all that left-right divide and take the audience focus off a film that will inevitably include a lot of parochial British political content is if the film (or its US marketing) portrays her as a heroic pioneering woman who broke the glass ceiling in politics. Maggie of Arc.
Which would be like portraying Richard Nixon as a champion of the American Constitution, Jesse Helms as a Civil Rights pioneer or Ronald Reagan as an inspirational leader in the fight against AIDS.
It will be interesting to see how the Weinstein Company positions this film…
Wow, that was a nice political spiel. I’m a 22 year old liberal who knows who Thatcher was and it doesn’t really matter.
You don’t go to movies because you want to hear your political views spoken back to you from the screen. (That’s how you pick your news channels.) You go to the movies for superb acting and a good story.
Both of which are guaranteed with any movie starring Streep.
My point wasn’t about why people go to movies. The point was about the marketing challenge inherent with biopics – especially of political figures. Most people who go to biopics exercise a modicum of calculation as to whether the film is likely to be honest or dishonest. To use an obviously extreme analogy – a film that portrayed Hitler as a sensitive misunderstood soul would be a hard sell. It could have the best actor in the world playing Hitler – but an intelligent movie-goer would (quite rightly) be wary of such a film.
The Thatcher film is certain to be well-made, well-acted and with those classy British production values. But if the content is perceived as a whitewash or a glorification of a divisive character who did harm. eg Thatcher’s support of the Chilean dictator Pinochet comes to mind – then discerning filmgoers – especially liberal women (a natural part of Streep’s fanbase) may be concerned about how accurate or fair the film is.
Don’t underestimate the moral code or discriminatory taste of the audience… They instinctively know when a film is authentic and when it’s not. We cannot possibly know at this point whether the heart of this film and its perspective is honest. We know it will be well-made and well-acted. That’s all we know.
If the film tries to denigrate Thatcher (unlikely) or glorify Thatcher (possible) then that WILL become a factor. If only because Oscar rivals will be very swift to encourage media outlets to point out such flaws. THAT’S why the marketing of this film will be so important. It’s not just enough to say “great actress… great story” when you’re depicting prominent real-life people.
Don’t wanna jinx it for you Meryl, but Harvey on your side, go ahead and clear a place on your mantle (or the top of your toilet tank, or whatever exotic place people keep their Oscars) for numero tre.
Ima just sayin’
With Harvey behind this Meryl stands her first real chance at winning since who knows when? I’m so excited. I can’t wait to see how far TWC can take this when it comes to the Oscar race. They went for not only the lead actor award but for best picture this past award season, I doubt The Iron Lady has a shot in hell at picture but it’d be great if they could get the pic nominated for some top awards to give Meryl some momentum.