Get ready for sequels to 'Bad Santa,' 'Rounders' and 'Shakespeare in Love'

Are Lauren Graham and Billy Bob Thornton ready for "Bad Santa"?

Credit: Miramax

In something of a surprise, the new owners of Miramax have announced a deep partnership with The Weinstein Company to create movie sequels and TV shows for a number of longstanding Miramax properties.

The first new projects underdevelopment will include sequels to "Bad Santa," "Rounders" and "Shakespeare in Love."  The second is unexpected as the original film was considered a bomb after only grossing $22 million in 1998.  The "Love" sequel is only questionable as few best picture winners besides "The Godfather" and "Rocky" return to the well for additional installments.

Other properties the companies hope to develop are "Bridget Jones’s Diary," "Copland," "From Dusk Till Dawn," "Swingers," "Clerks," "Shall We Dance," and "The Amityville Horror." Some of these projects will be direct to DVD or Blu-ray movies and its unclear overall if original filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino, Doug Liman or Kevin Smith will be involved in such endeavors.

The companies are already partnered on 2011's "Scream 4,""Spy Kids 4" and "Scary Movie 5."  Those films were set up prior to Miramax being acquired from the Walt Disney Company.

In a statement, Harvey and Bob Weinstein, who originally founded Miramax before selling it to Disney, were quoted as saying, "We are very close to these films and the new management of Miramax also feels that we are in the best position to create sequels that are at once worthy and compelling in their own right. We look forward to working with Mike and his team on getting these films into production as soon as possible, and extending our partnership in the years ahead.” 

New Miramax CEO Mile Lang remarked, "“We are thrilled and honored to work with Harvey and Bob Weinstein.  There is no better partner to build on these great films and turn them into franchises, while also creating exciting new TV properties.  This agreement will extend the Miramax library while also enabling us to create new content without committing near-term capital.”

It's worth noting the Weinsteins unsuccessfully bid to try to reclaim the company they departed in 2005 earlier this year, but the deal fell apart at the last minute.  Instead, consortium of outside investor lead by Colony Capital acquired the mini-major's 700 film library.  So far, the company appears content to exploit its properties and not venture into original productions or acquisitions.

Gregory Ellwood
Editor-in-Chief, Co-Founder

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With over a decade of experience in the movie industry, Ellwood survived working for two major studios and has written for Variety, MSN and the LA Times. A co-founder of HitFix, Ellwood spends his time relaxing hitting 3’s on the basketball court and following his beloved Clippers.