By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com
Weinsteins Send Broken 'Promise' Back to China
Bad news for stateside fans of Asian cinema who have been waiting for, like, ever to see Chen Kaige’s The Promise released in some sort of dignified fashion: The Weinstein Company has reshelved the picture–on someone else’s shelf.
According to The Reporter (via Reuters):
In preparing for its U.S. release, Harvey Weinstein retitled the movie Master of the Crimson Armor and trimmed it by 19 minutes to 102 minutes. According to (producer Etchie) Stroh, the filmmakers agreed to the edits and restructuring, though they had reservations about the title change, feeling that it emphasized the movie’s male-oriented martial arts aspects at the expense of its other qualities.
But the main disagreement came over how widely to distribute the film in the U.S. The producers argued for a broader release a la Zhang Yimou’s Hero — which Miramax opened in 2,031 theaters in 2004 — while Weinstein was opting for a more limited release.
“It was a question of strategy,” Stroh said. “They had a pretty full slate and other films they had prioritized for activity. On the other hand, for me, this film is a labor of love, and we wanted it to be a centerpiece. But they were very helpful, and the split was amicable.”
The film–China’s entry in the Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar race–will still get an L.A. release tomorrow to keep itself eligible for other award categories. But keep in mind that once upon a time (like, right after Cannes), this was a can’t-miss epic smash along the lines of Hero and House of Flying Daggers. Nevertheless, The Weinsteins–who were evidently twitchy enough to bring in Anthony Minghella for a partial rewrite–cut, cut and re-cut, pushing back The Promise‘s early December wide release to 2006.
And now, even after a ginormous opening (despite some sniffy reviews) in China, Harvey hit the eject button. But at least he did it politely:
“We have thoroughly enjoyed working together for the past seven months and have reached an amicable decision to part ways on Master of the Crimson Armor,” Harvey Weinstein said of the decision. “That said, we have tremendous respect for Chen Kaige, Etchie Stroh and (China Film Corp. managing director) Han Sanping and are all rooting for them as they go forward releasing this film.”
Indeed, a Reeler spy sends word that Harvey, Bob and TWC staff are planning a weekend waving signs in front of the Laemmle Fairfax, pulling in street traffic with handpainted signs and Harvey’s secret-weapon Daisy Duke shorts, eager to see the film take off without them. Real team players, those guys.
