Lantern Entertainment Completes $289M Weinstein Company Purchase; includes Oscar winners The King’s Speech, The Artist
After months of negotiation, Lantern Capital has been given approval to complete its $289M acquisition of The Weinstein Company, which went into bankruptcy after the watershed sexual assault scandal of its namesake, Harvey Weinstein. They will rebrand themselves Lantern Entertainment and take control of the 277-film library that includes Oscar winners The King’s Speech, Inglourious Basterds, and The Artist.
The deal was less than the originally negotiated $310 million. The Weinstein Company agreed to a $21 million price reduction for its assets, with Lantern providing an $8.75 million fund to cover participation and other claims, including unpaid employees, directors, producers, and actors.
“Over the last several months, we have immersed ourselves in the formation of Lantern Entertainment,” co-presidents Andy Mitchell and Milos Brajovic said in a statement. “Throughout all our conversations with employees, creatives and industry professionals, we are inspired by the collective commitment and support extended to the launch of our new company, which is anchored by creativity in a meritocracy-based culture. Across all disciplines, we are extremely motivated to become a forward-thinking force in this industry.”
Lantern Entertainment’s unreleased feature films include The Upside, starring Kevin Hart, Bryan Cranston and Nicole Kidman (the American remake of The Intouchables), and The Current War with Benedict Cumberbatch and Michael Shannon, which played some film festivals last year.
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
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