'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' Sequel to be Netflix's First Original Film

When Steven Soderbergh and Magnolia gave the experimental film Bubble a simultaneous VOD and theatrical release in 2005, some predicted it to be the beginning of the end of the movie theater experience. Since then we've seen the practiced used more frequently, theatrical release windows shortened, and the expansion of movies exclusive to the digital medium. After the extremely successful VOD release of Snowpiercer earlier this year, Harvey Weinstein is ready to take the next step by making an exclusive deal with Netflix for the release of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Green Legend.

Netflix announced today that Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Green Legend would be the pay network's first original feature. It will premiere on August 28th 2015, and as part of the announcement Netflix has also debuted a couple of images featuring the returning Michelle Yeoh as Yu Shu-Lien and Donnie Yen as Silent Wolf.  Yuen Woo-Ping (Tai Chi Master) is directing with a script by John Fusco, the film is loosely based on Iron Knight, Silver Vase, the fifth book in Wang Dulu's Crane-Iron series. Harry Shum Jr., Jason Scott Lee, Roger Yuan, Eugenia Yuan, and Natasha Liu Bordizzo co-star with Peter Berg and Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game) producing.

Given the effect Netflix has had on TV with high-profile series like House of Cards and Orange is the New Black, it was only a matter of time before they made the move to features, and this is a big initial move grabbing a movie like this. That said, if you're aching to see it on the big screen it will be made available on the same day in select IMAX theaters around the world. You can bet there are a few Hollywood execs who are looking at this as another blow struck against traditional distribution methods, but in truth it's not that much different than a pay network like HBO releasing their own original movies to lure in subscribers. Whether this plan works for Netflix remains to be seen and there will be plenty of eyes watching to see how it plays out.

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'Snowpiercer' Finally Hits U.S. Theaters this Summer

The fighting between Harvey Weinstein and South Korean director Bong Joon-Ho over the final cut of Snowpiercer has seemingly been resolved, and now the anticipated sci-fi film has a release date. The film will hit theaters right in the thick of blockbuster season on June 27th, and yes, that puts it head-on against Transformers: Age of Extinction.

One has to wonder what Weinstein is thinking here, as genre fans will almost certainly flock to Bay's film rather than seeking out Snowpiercer, which we know is opening only in limited release. However it will be the director's cut as Joon-Ho had hoped, so those who have been most eager for it will get to see the full creative vision. Still, this is somewhat disappointing and kind of smacks as one last jab of defiance from Weinstein. The film stars Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton, Jamie Bell, Song Kang-ho, Alison Pill, Ewen Bremner, Octavia Spencer, Ed Harris, and John Hurt, taking place in a future when an experiment to end global warming kills most of the population. Class warfare erupts aboard the Snowpiercer, a perpetually-moving train carrying the last remnants of humanity.

In other news, Kill the Messenger, the real-life biopic on journalist Gary Webb, has been given a release date of October 10th, putting it right into the Oscar mix. Directed by Michael Cuesta (Homeland) and starring Jeremy Renner as Webb, the story follows the reporter's reveal of the CIA's connection to the Colombian drug trade, leading to his being publicly smeared. The assassination of his character ruined him professionally and personally, and ultimately ended with Webb's suicide. Rosemarie DeWitt, Paz Vega, Andy Garcia, Tim Blake Nelson, Robert Patrick, Barry Pepper, Oliver Platt, Michael Sheen, Michael K. Williams and Mary Elizabeth Winstead co-star.

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Director's Cut of 'Snowpiercer' to Hit U.S. but in Limited Release

Well, there's good news and bad news in regards to Bong Joon-Ho's sci-fi epic, Snowpiercer. For months there's been a ton of anger from fans, a little from the director himself, that Harvey Weinstein was planning to do what he's known for and slice the film by as much as 20 minutes and make other changes nobody else wants. But now it looks like Joon-Ho and Weinstein have come to an agreement that will probably leave fans with mixed emotions.

Snowpiercer will arrive on U.S. shores unedited, just as Joon-Ho intended, but it will only be in limited release. That means if you really want to see the film in full it may require a bit of a hike, but at least you'll get the full cut that is apparently just over 2 1/2 hours. It's that lengthy run time which caused Weinstein to scuttle plans for a national rollout. The film has been playing internationally where it has broken box office records and won a handful of awards (it's at Berlin now), but apparently we're too dumb in America to understand it.

And that's been Weinstein's prevailing attitude for awhile, that American audiences won't respond to a foreign film with any level of intelligence or nuance. That apparently applies to Snowpiercer even though it boasts a cast including Chris Evans (Captain America), Tilda Swinton (Oscar winner), Octavia Spencer (Oscar winner), John Hurt, Alison Pill, and Jamie Bell. So it's not as if it doesn't have the star wattage to attract a decent box office if given the proper push.

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Meryl Streep and Harvey Weinstein Take on the NRA in 'The Senator's Wife'

Well, this morning we learned that Harvey Weinstein and The Weinstein Co. spent a whole lot of marketing money for not a lot of return, with most of the studio's films falling way short of Oscar nominations. But one Harvey was able to count on was the reliable Meryl Streep, who made the Best Actress field for August: Osage County. And it's a partnership that will continue in a project that's guaranteed to generate a lot of heat.

Weinstein confirmed to Deadline that Streep will star in The Senator's Wife for the studio, and it's going to get the gun enthusiasts of the NRA all riled up for sure. Here's what Weinstein said on The Howard Stern Show about it...

"I’m going to make a movie with Meryl Streep, and we’re going to take [gun rights] head-on. And [the NRA is] going to wish they weren’t alive after I’m done with them.”

Dude, they have guns. Lots of them. Might want to chill on that tough talk. Anyway, he also described it as the new Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and it will chronicle the NRA's under-handed lobbying efforts to kill any gun legislation after the Aurora and Newtown shootings.

Whatever your thoughts on gun rights there's no doubt that the NRA embarked on a coordinated (and successful) smear campaign of misinformation to kill the bill, and it sounds as if Weinstein is pumped to make sure everybody knows about it.

With all of the Weinstein muscle behind it, and Harvey's obvious enthusiasm to kick up some controversy, this one's going to be huge and extremely divisive. No word on a director or writer but hopefully we'll hear more soon. Speaking personally as someone who has been disgusted by the NRA's tactics for a long time, especially since they don't truly represent their members, I'm excited to see where this goes.

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Bong Joon-Ho Reportedly "Furious" Over 'Snowpiercer' Cuts

A couple of months ago rumors began to surface that The Weinstein Company were looking to chop up Bong Joon-Ho's sci-fi film Snowpiercer for American audiences.. Those familiar with ol' Harvey Scissorhands have been worried about this since the studio acquired the rights, and with estimates of as much as 20 minutes being cut there was a considerable amount of outrage. Bong diffused the situation a little bit by saying the edits wouldn't be so bad, but according to Variety they are pretty bad and the director is more upset than he's been letting on.

Talking to audiences at the South Korean Busan Film Festival where Snowpiercer recently screened, Bong made it clear that it was the last time his complete vision for it would be available. He said, “We are still in discussions about the cut, but it is clear that this is the only director’s cut you will be able to see." He didn't go into specifics on what the changes are, but sources close to him are saying they are significant enough that "privately he is furious."

Snowpiercer has been a major hit in Bong's native South Korea, where they received a full unedited version. The Weinstein hold the rights to the U.S. and a number of other major regions so the only hope at this point is that a director's cut will be a part of the DVD/Blu-Ray package. 

I emphasized caution when the original story hit back in August, but that was before Bong Joon-Ho himself started getting pissed about the situation. More than anything I want to experience everything that a filmmaker intends, and considering what Weinstein did to The Grandmaster I'm officially worried.

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Cue Outrage: Harvey Weinstein May Chop 20 Minutes from 'Snowpiercer'

While we still don't have a firm release date for Bong Joon-ho's Snowpiercer, the film has gone great guns in South Korea, breaking the previous records held by the director's monster flick, The Host. A great deal of that can be attributed to it being the director's home country, but with a diverse international cast and post-apocalyptic science fiction setting, there's a pretty good chance it will be hit on a global scale. But there is an issue, and that's The Weinstein Company, who think that it still needs to be chopped down before a U.S. theatrical run, despite its foreign success.


Festival programmer and film critic Tony Rayns claims that Harvey Weinstein is planning to trim as much as 20 minutes from Snowpiercer, while adding voiceovers to the beginning and end, before opening it in multiple territories including the U.S., New Zealand, South Africa, and Australia. It's not exactly something new for Weinstein, whose reputation for editing down his foreign acquisitions precedes him and is well-earned. Hey, he didn't get the nickname Harvey Scissorhands for nothing. It's the reasons Rayns gives for the decision which has ruffled a few feathers, saying "TWC people have told Bong that their aim is to make sure the film 'will be understood by audiences in Iowa ... and Oklahoma. Leaving aside the issue of what Weinstein thinks of its audience, it seems to say the least anomalous that the rest of the English-speaking world has to be dragged down to the presumed level of American mid-west hicks."

To put it bluntly, what Rayns means is that Weinstein thinks American Midwest folk are too stupid for the film. It doesn't sound particularly complicated, though, centering on the last remnants of humanity fighting to survive on a perpetually moving train as the outside world is destroyed by global catastrophe. According to the director, whose opinion on it we don't know at this point (Wong Kar-Wai didn't care his The Grandmaster was edited by Weinstein), the majority of the cuts will come from character detail in order to make it more of a streamlined action movie.

It's that last part that bugs me the most, because the last thing we need is yet another sci-fi/action movie. We've seen enough of those this year and few have been very good. Otherwise I'm finding it a little tough to have the same level of outrage that some others have. As I said earlier, this is just what ol' Harvey does, so why in the world would anybody think Snowpiercer would be the exception? He'll slice up Princess Mononoke but not Snowpiercer? Yeah, right. And as for the insulting comments about the American Midwest, that was all Rayns coloring his comments with personal opinion. And the deliberately inflammatory headline by Twitch certainly didn't help matters.  So how about we wait and see how Snowpiercer turns out before getting all hot 'n bothered? Or at the very least wait until we know when it will be in theaters. Rayns says the U.K. will be protesting the changes, and Australia may follow suit, but what that means exactly is anybody's guess. It probably doesn't mean anything at all, and chances are we'll see the version of the film that Weinstein wants us to see. If it turns out to be a stinker because of his meddling, he'll feel the brunt of the backlash, as he should.

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