Further development of Miramax[edit]

Weinstein at Cannes, 2002.

The Weinsteins slowly built upon this success throughout the 1980s with arthouse
films that achieved critical attention and modest commercial success. Harvey We
instein and Miramax gained wider attention in 1988 with the release of Errol Mor
ris's documentary The Thin Blue Line which detailed the struggle of Randall Adam
s, a wrongfully convicted inmate sentenced to death row. The publicity that soon
surrounded the case resulted in the release of Adams and nationwide publicity f
or Miramax. In 1989, their successful launch release of Steven Soderbergh's Sex,
Lies, and Videotape propelled Miramax to become the most successful independent
studio in America.[9]
Also in 1989, Miramax released two art-house films, The Cook, the Thief, His Wif
e & Her Lover and director Pedro Almodvar's film Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, both of
which the MPAA rating board gave an X-rating, effectively stopping nationwide re
lease for these films. Weinstein sued the MPAA over the rating system. His lawsu
it was later thrown out, but got the MPAA to agree to introduce the new NC-17 ra
ting.
Miramax continued to grow its library of films and directors until, in 1993, aft
er the success of The Crying Game, Disney offered the Weinsteins $80 million for
ownership of Miramax.[10] Agreeing to the deal that would cement their Hollywoo
d clout and ensure that they would remain at the head of their company, Miramax
followed the next year with their first blockbuster, Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fi
ction and distributed the popular independent film Clerks.
Miramax won its first Best Picture Academy Award in 1996 with the victory of The
English Patient (Pulp Fiction was nominated in 1994 but lost to Forrest Gump).
This started a string of critical successes that included Shakespeare in Love an
d Good Will Hunting.
The Weinstein Company[edit]
On March 29, 2005, it was announced that the Weinstein brothers would leave Mira
max on September 30 to form their own production company, named The Weinstein Co
mpany with several other media executives, directors Quentin Tarantino and Rober
t Rodriguez, and Colin Vaines, who had successfully run the production departmen
t at Miramax for ten years and moved with the brothers to head development in th
e Weinstein company.[11]
The new studio immediately garnered Academy Award nominations for Transamerica a
nd Mrs. Henderson Presents, and box office success through Hoodwinked! and Scary
Movie 4.
The Weinstein Co. acquired U.S. rights to the film The Oath of Tobruk, a documen
tary about the 2011 Libyan revolution, in 2012 Cannes Film Festival.[12]
Praise and criticism[edit]
In 2004 Weinstein was appointed an honorary Commander of the Order of the Britis
h Empire in recognition of his contributions to the British film industry (the a
ward being "honorary" because he is a citizen of the United States).[13]
While lauded for opening up the independent film market and making it financiall
y viable, Weinstein has been criticized by some for the techniques he has allege
dly applied in his business dealings. Peter Biskind's book, Down and Dirty Pictu
res: Miramax, Sundance and the Rise of Independent Film,[6] details criticism of
Miramax's release history and editing of Asian films, such as Shaolin Soccer, H
ero and Princess Mononoke. There is a rumour that when Harvey Weinstein was char
ged with handling the U.S. release of Princess Mononoke, Miyazaki sent him a sam
urai sword in the post. Attached to the blade was a stark message: "No cuts". Mi

yazaki commented on the incident: "Actually, my producer did that. Although I di

d go to New York to meet this man, this Harvey Weinstein, and I was bombarded wi
th this aggressive attack, all these demands for cuts. I defeated him."[14] Wein
stein has always insisted that such editing was done in the interest of creating
the most financially viable film. "I'm not cutting for fun", Harvey Weinstein s
aid in an interview. "I'm cutting for the shit to work. All my life I served one
master: the film. I love movies."[8][15]
Another example cited by Biskind was Phillip Noyce's The Quiet American, whose r
elease Weinstein delayed following the September 11 attacks, due to audience rea
ction in test screenings to the film's critical tone towards America's past fore
ign policy. After being told the film would go straight-to-video, Noyce planned
to screen the film in Toronto International Film Festival in order to mobilize c
ritics to pressure Miramax to release it theatrically. Weinstein decided to scre
en the film at the Festival only after he was lobbied by star Michael Caine, who
threatened to boycott publicity for another film he had made for Miramax. The f
ilm received mostly positive reviews at the Festival, and Miramax eventually rel
eased the film theatrically, but it was alleged that Miramax did not make a majo
r effort to promote the film for Academy Award consideration, though Caine was n
ominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor.[6]
Weinstein's efforts to campaign for Oscars for his films during Oscar season led
to a ban on such campaigns by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[
16]
Weinstein has also cultivated a reputation for ruthlessness and fits of anger. A
ccording to Biskind, Weinstein once put a New York Observer reporter in a headlo
ck while throwing him out of a party. On another occasion, Weinstein excoriated
director Julie Taymor and her husband during a disagreement over a test screenin
g of her movie Frida.[8]
In a 2004 piece in New York magazine, Weinstein appeared somewhat repentant for
his often aggressive discussions with directors and producers.[17] However, a Ne
wsweek story on October 13, 2008, criticized Weinstein, who was accused of "hass
ling Sydney Pollack on his deathbed" about the release of the film The Reader. A
fter Weinstein offered $1 million to charity if the accusation could be proven,
journalist Nikki Finke published an email sent by Scott Rudin on August 22 asser
ting that Weinstein "harassed" Anthony Minghella's widow and a bedridden Pollack
until Pollack's family asked him to stop.[18][19]
In September 2009, Weinstein publicly voiced opposition to efforts to extradite
Roman Polanski from Switzerland to the U.S. regarding 1977 charges of unlawful s
exual intercourse with a 13-year-old, to which Polanski had pled guilty before f
leeing the country.[20] Weinstein, whose company had distributed a film about th
e Polanski case, questioned whether Polanski committed any crime,[21] prompting
Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley to insist that Polanski's guil
ty plea indicated that his action was a crime, and that several other serious ch
arges were pending.[22]
In November 2011, independent filmmaker Michael Bartlett blamed Weinstein for th
e poor quality of his film, World of the Dead: The Zombie Diaries, citing pressu
re from Weinstein to deliver the film ahead of schedule. When Weinstein said, "T
his is the date you will deliver the film and if it isn't finished then we'll fi
nish it for you", the post production was rushed and the editing and sound mix w
ere not completed properly.[23]
In March 2012 Weinstein was made a Chevalier (knight) of the Ordre des Arts et d
es Lettres by the French Consulate in New York City in recognition of Miramax's
efforts to increase the presence and popularity of foreign films in the United S
tates.[24]

In April 2012, Time magazine included Weinstein in its annual list of the 100 Mo
st Influential People in the World.[25]
In 2013, New York Post film critic Kyle Smith accused Harvey Weinstein of making
numerous anti-Catholic films, including Priest (1994), The Butcher Boy (1997),
The Magdalene Sisters (2002), and Philomena (2013).[26]