Mark Cuban says he would back Weinstein brothers’ deal to buy Miramax back from Disney

Cuban says he’d back Weinstein deal for Miramax

LOS ANGELES — Billionaire investor Mark Cuban said Saturday he “loved” the idea of the Weinstein brothers participating in a bid for Miramax, adding that he didn’t help block their bid to take back the label from The Walt Disney Co.

On the sidelines of the Produced By Conference, Cuban told The Associated Press he wouldn’t be worried about the Weinsteins splitting their time between two movie studios.

Harvey and Bob Weinstein founded Miramax, naming it after their parents, Miriam and Max, in 1979. They sold it to Disney for $80 million in 1993.

Their next startup, The Weinstein Co., was founded with $1 billion in capital but hasn’t been able to produce consistent hits. Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, is a Weinstein Co. investor.

Cracks in their relationship appeared in April, when Cuban told Bloomberg News that he had an issue with The Weinstein Co. amid widely reported talks of the Weinsteins’ involvement in a Miramax deal.

Talks by the Weinsteins to take back control of Miramax were called off late last month amid concern at The Weinstein Co. about how it would benefit from the arrangement and how the brothers would spend their time managing two studios.

Cuban said Saturday that the ultimately failed $625 million offer was too high. But he said the possible tie-up with the Weinstein Co. amounted to a no-risk chance at turning around his investment with the filmmaking brothers.

“If something really, really works, that acts as a catalyst for everything, and I come out ahead,” Cuban said. “Maybe they were looking to pay too much, but it’s not my money. It can only help me.”

Supermarket magnate Ron Burkle and the Weinstein brothers were potential partners in the bid.

Disney has been looking to sell Miramax because it no longer resonated with its other family centric studio units such as Pixar and Marvel amid a studio overhaul.

Cuban said he was not consulted on the offer for the studio, but he added that Harvey and Bob Weinstein were “better than anybody else” at understanding and selling Miramax’s 600-plus film library.

The label’s Oscar-laden film library is full of prestigious films such as “My Left Foot” (1989), “Pulp Fiction” (1994) and “Good Will Hunting” (1997), and still makes money on home video and pay TV.