Monday March 26 1:10 AM ET
Archerd: News from the Oscars
By Army Archerd, Daily Variety Senior Columnist
It was inevitable that I ask Harvey what's happening with Martin Scorsese's ``The Gangs of New York,'' starring Leonardo DiCaprio, in Rome. He happily said principal photography ends in a week, followed by a week of ``action'' scenes.
Here is a excerpt from an article by Harvey Weinstein in today's (3/24/01) Los Angeles Times.
"It's also been an interesting year for me, because, with "Chocolat," we have the traditional "classic" movie at the Oscars. We're always the guys with "Pulp Fiction" or "The English Patient" or "Shakespeare in Love." Now we have the romantic movie, and while it has a theme of tolerance and is an allegory in many ways, it's the "sweet" movie. And we knew that some of the critics were going to come after us with Texas chain saws, gunning for us because we're Miramax, the cool company, and what happened? Of course they say we've sold out, which is completely untrue. Next year, the first five minutes of Marty Scorsese's "Gangs of New York" will show that our edge is sharper than ever."
Sunday March 25 6:49 PM ET
Day of Spirit And Spirits
By Bill Higgins and Kirstin Swanson
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Just as the sun was setting on the BAFTA/LA party, Miramax was launching its annual Oscars (news - web sites)-eve affair at the Regent Beverly Wilshire, where co-chairman Harvey Weinstein said this about his ''Chocolat'' chances: ``Bet against us and win. We're not going to get it.''
(On the other hand, he seemed pretty confident about Martin Scorsese's ``Gangs of New York'' doing well next year.) Weinstein's was a star-heavy affair, with Barbra Streisand and James Brolin chatting with Talk magazine's Tina Brown; David Blaine repeating sleight-of-hand card tricks for an awed Julia Roberts and Benjamin Bratt; and Julian Schnabel, Kevin Spacey, Clive Owen, Javier Bardem and Tatum O'Neal at one point all together at the bar.
And over at upcomingmovies.com, the webmaster there states that GONY's official release date has been confirmed by Miramax as December 21st, although I saw no official quote from any reliable source to back the statement up.