NEW YORK, March 30 (UPI) -- The Walt Disney Co. and Miramax Film Corp. co-founders Harvey and Bob Weinstein have reached a separation agreement worth a reported $130 million.
Disney, which bought Miramax for about $80 million, will keep its most valuable asset -- a library of about 550 movies that include such titles as "The Crying Game," "Pulp Fiction" and best picture Oscar winners "Chicago" and "Shakespeare in Love."
Disney also keeps the right to co-finance at least 25 films produced by a new company the Weinsteins plan to create, including sequels to "Spy Kids" and "Scary Movie," made by Miramax's Dimension Films unit, the Wall Street Journal said Wednesday.
The Weinsteins will be allowed to offer jobs at their new company to about 100 of Miramax's current 300 employees.
The newspaper said the value of the Weinsteins' settlement is believed to be about $130 million, which covers their 2004 and 2005 bonuses, along with their share of future profits in films they initiated at Miramax.
But after the Weinsteins buy back about 40 projects from Disney and deduct profit from "Fahrenheit 9/11," which they released through another distributor, the actual payout will be considerably less.
