Over at Deadline Hollywood Daily, Nikki Finke has been investigating the employment status of Richard Saperstein, who supposedly still works for Dimension Films. Saperstein is/was the president of production over at Dimension, which I'm sure you all know is part of The Weinstein Co. Finke had heard a rumor that Saperstein was canned, probably because of the disappointing Grindhouse box office. Supposedly, he was even telling friends that he got fired, but then later he found out he didn't actually lose his job. According to Finke's sources, the confusion has to do with Saperstein's contract with Dimension, which either lasts another 18 months or as long as another four years. So, maybe the guy was relieved of his position but hasn't technically lost his job. In a statement from The Weinstein Co. to Finke, Saperstein was said to still be "an employee of the company." Of course, that doesn't say he's still the president of production.
Other tidbits that Finke points out about Saperstein's reign at Dimension include his involvement in the recent hit 1408, which should be redeeming him for Grindhouse, which certainly shouldn't have been his fault anyway (who do you think has more influence with Tarantino and Rodriguez -- Harvey and Bob Weinstein or Saperstein?). Also, Saperstein reportedly just snagged Dimension the rights to remake David Cronenberg's Scanners. Whether or not Saperstein is still employed at Dimension, it appears that lawyers may end up involved, and we will probably see him leave the studio anyway. Then maybe we'll hear about the Weinstein's continued plans to fix the reputation of their slow-going company, of which Dimension should be doing the better business, like it was doing when it was a part of Miramax. Dimension is probably doing better than The Weinstein Co. as a distributor, but maybe it could layoff the sequels and horror remakes and be even more successful.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-17-2007 @ 9:11PM
Chuck said...
simple:
DONT RELEASE A MOVIE LIKE THIS ON EASTER WEEKEND!
What Morons.....I am not even in the movie industry.
Reply
7-18-2007 @ 10:27AM
Jessica said...
First: I agree with Chuck don't open a movie
on Easter Weekend.
Second: Don't put a post onGrindhouse unless its speaking of a release. When the bloody hell is the DVD going to come out????
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7-18-2007 @ 2:03PM
fed up said...
Way to rely on supposition for your stories here. Blaming the current clusterfuck in the Dimension employee ranks on the 'failure' of GRINDHOUSE is the sort of thing I'd expect from my mom, not from a site that purports to report on what's going on in the film business. Dig a little deeper, guys, and try to earn that paycheck.
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7-18-2007 @ 2:40PM
Scaramanga said...
I sat through Grindhouse, and was asking myself several times during the film(s): Why are these stories both nearly full-length? It was simply too long. I'm glad it was made, I'm glad I saw it, but I'm not surprised by it's miserable box-office showing. It was like one of those skits on Saturday Night Live that go way to long, stretching a gag until it snaps.
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