Since losing their brand, life hasn't been right for the Brothers Weinstein. Could a name change though really bring back that magical English Patient era?

• Their company may be ailing, but Weinsteins are ready to make a play to get their name back. The Wrap reports that Harvey and Bob are preparing a pitch to Robert Iger to buy back their old Miramax brand now that Disney has all but shuttered the division. When they left Disney, The Wrap reports, Michael Eisner refused out of spite to let them take the name — which is a hybrid of the Weinsteins' parent's names - with them. But with Disney now under less vengeance driven management the Weinsteins hope is that the time be be ripe for an historic reunion . [The Wrap]

• George Clooney is reportedly "circling the lead" role in the long awaited new film by Sideways and Election director Alexander Payne, a family drama/comedy entitled The Descendents. [Variety]

• Suggesting that Oscar's new producers may be taking a step away from from the Hugh Jackman mold, Nikki Finke reports that the hosting job has been offered to and turned down by both Ben Stiller and Robert Downey Jr. Which means there is only one Tropic Thunder star left to host...Jack Black, your day of destiny has arrived. [Deadline]

• Hollywood is saved! In earnings season, Viacom reported "better-than-expected third-quarter profit gains thanks to improved theatrical film and TV advertising trends, as well as cost controls." Marvel however, ruined the party by reporting lower profits in Q3, as they had no theatrical releases last quarter. Thanks for nothing Marvel. [Hollywood Reporter]

• Sony Classics has picked up the US rights to Mother and Child a drama about three women and their children, which received gushing reviews when it debuted at the Toronto Film Festival in September. [Variety]

• Diversity is at last coming to late night TV. Fifteen years after Arsenio Hall went off the air, the next few weeks will see the debuts of talk shows built around George Lopez (TBS), Wanda Sykes (Fox) and Mo'Nique (BET). [The Wrap]

• The Atrios are in! The casting society of America handed out their annual awards at a banquet last night, giving top honors to Star Trek, Mad Men, Up and Milk. Kath and Kim's John Michael Higgins hosted the fete. [Hollywood Reporter]

• Most brilliantly understated headline of the morning: "Paranormal Activity sequel a possibility. Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman reveals Tuesday." Yes, well there is always that chance that Viacom has decided they've made enough money this decade. [Hollywood Reporter]

• The unsinkable Jim Belushi juggernaut rolls on. The According to Jim vet has signed up with Diane English and Barry Levinson to create a courtroom TV drama based on famed defense attorney Mickey Sherman. [Variety]

In case you don't know, the story revolves around an overweight, illiterate teen from Harlem who is pregnant with her second child and invited to enroll in an alternative school.

Newcomer Gabourey Sidibe plays Precious and Mo'nique plays her mother; Paula Patton and Mariah Carey also make appearances. In addition to a spectacular-looking trailer, the design geek in me has to give Lionsgate props for this poster:
…which is powerful and very much like some of the old posters designed by the great Saul Bass.


Precious premiered at Sundance in January and will be shown at the Cannes Film Festival (which started yesterday) but won't make its theatrical release in the U.S. until November (Oscar season!).

Precious Trailer [Trailer Addict]
Precious/Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire [IMDb]
Related: Precious [Feministing]
Precious Trailer [Women & Hollywood]

The Weinstein Company and Lionsgate have now filed suit against each other, with each studio arguing that it came out of Sundance with the rights to distribute the movie. It's like Watchmen all over again, but with inner-city drama instead of blue wangs! Say THR:

"TWC reached a firm agreement for the rights to "Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire.' Behind their backs Cinetic Media tried to make a better deal with Lionsgate. Lionsgate was well aware of the TWC contract but went forward anyway," said Bert Fields, who along with David Boies is repping TWC. Typically in breach-of-contract cases, a plaintiff would either want the contract honored or, in its place, monetary compensation.

Fields added: "We have just been informed that Lionsgate went to court today in Los Angeles to preempt TWC's lawsuit in New York. This is obvious forum-shopping by a party that knew TWC was going to sue. We will deal with it appropriately."

Then again, the New York Times is arguing that the film is going to be a near-impossible sell anyway. Well, we'll come back to Push's box office potential in just a bit, after we demolish the rest of the claims in this NYT article for being inaccurate and sorta dim.

First, writer Brooks Barnes amusingly makes hay about the fact that Lionsgate originally agreed to talk to him about the film's marketing and then suddenly had to rescind their offer at the last minute. Barnes speculates that happened because the film is so hard to sell that they didn't want to discuss it—uh, we're going to go ahead and say that they pulled out because of the impending Weinstein/Lionsgate clash that some reporting on the matter might have dug up. Bummer to have that story announced today, too, dude!

Oh, but then there's this:

Lionsgate's recent success lies almost entirely in the horror genre, particularly the torture porn franchise "Saw," although it has had some luck in a corner of movies condescendingly referred to by the industry as "urban." The studio, for instance, distributes Tyler Perry's comedies, which have sold about $248 million in tickets over the past four years.

Really, has Lionsgate had "some luck"? Because from where we're standing, it looks like they actually nurtured a major film franchise and locked it down (but maybe it was because their Sagittarius is rising?). Anyway, there are really too many errors in this NYT piece to correct, from the comparison of its fortunes to the barely released Spike Lee bomb Miracle at St. Anna, to the assertion that "the average marketing cost for this type of film is $25 million" (right, because that's what St. Anna had, isn't it?).

Defamer's seen this movie, so let's give you our own perspective: yes, the film is harrowing, but it's also sometimes explosively funny, and it's adept at building and releasing tension at the right times. Also, with the weight of Tyler Perry, Oprah Winfrey, and The View (Sherri Shepherd has a small role) behind it, this film is poised to hit its key money demographic: not black audiences, but women. There's no way this film won't be enormously talked about in the press, and Mo'Nique is a sure frontrunner for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar, which ensures that the film will stay in the public eye long enough to far exceed some industry watchers' expectations.

Also, Mariah Carey has a freaking mustache. Didn't we mention that before?

• Lionsgate, Weinstein Co. tussle over 'Push' [THR]

• Wrenching Film Poses Marketing Challenge [NYT]

You may remember that in our self-congratulatory post on An Education's sale, we signed off with "Emboldened, we'd now recommend that Lionsgate take a look at Push: Based on a Novel by Sapphire. Work that Tyler Perry circuit, get assured spots on Oprah and The View, and thank us later (a supporting actress campaign for Mo'Nique would be payment enough)."

Today (two weeks later), Variety brings this news:

Lionsgate has purchased North American distribution rights to "Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire." Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry will support Lionsgate's distribution through their respective motion picture companies, Harpo Films and 34th Street Films.

Well, all right then! Shall we go three for three? Hey, MTV Films...still interested in making some pickups? How about acquiring Sundance's fun "high school threesome" vehicle Dare? If you need us, we're going to be in our acquisitions suite, sacrificing yet another virginal Jezebel commenter to feed the insatiable Defamer crystal ball.

• Lionsgate, Winfrey, Perry push 'Push' [Variety]

The honors announced Saturday night most aggressively singled out Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire, the bleakarrific urban drama that claimed the Grand Jury and Audience prizes as well as a special acting honor for Mo'Nique — the film's evil-mother-from-hell who just last week was being asked to prepare her Oscar '09 speech. We could hardly believe it then, but knowing how the Academy has a new favorite farm team in Park City, the reality has sunk in: The plus-size star is one Weinstein endorsement away from an honest-to-God awards trajectory. Make it happen, Harvey.

• 2009 Sundance Awards Ceremony: 'Push' sweeps! [EW]

· Lest the 2008 Oscar nominations leave a sort of bitterly predictable taste in your mouth, look ahead to 2009, when Push co-star Mo'Nique — yes, that Mo'Nique — may find herself among the contenders for Best Actress. Not a terrible turn-out for a woman to whom the director's warning, "Mo'Nique, this could fuck up your career" only encouraged her to fight harder for her role as an abusive mother. Good luck, Mo'Nique; you'll need it opposite Carey Mulligan.

· Variety's Todd McCarthy gets even more specific about the Push vs. An Education counterpoints: "The two emblematic films of Sundance 2009 are about two 16-year-old girls who dedicate themselves to self-improvement in their own ways, one to speed her entry into the enticing adult world of art, romance and savoir faire, the other to simply survive and insure a future for herself and her son." And then something about Obama. Seriously, Todd, quit while you're ahead.

· McCarthy's colleague Anne Thompson deposits her own two cents into the Bank of Sundance Postmortems, nailing precisely what made 2009 such a lovely festival: Everyone stayed home.

· IFC Films made its second acquisition of the week, buying the terrific (and terrifically profane), mile-a-minute British comedy In the Loop.

· And finally, in the spirit of transition, we leave Sundance's last words to Loop co-star James Gandolfini, who yesterday pledged to do a Sopranos movie "if I was broke." But be encouraged, fans! Another few days in arm-and-a-leg expensive Park City might take care of that.

For a festival that too often programs films about young white boys sensitively coming of age or middle-class families dealing with grief, Push (not to be confused with the telekinetic Dakota Fanning movie) is almost bracingly exotic. It's the story of an overweight black teenager in Harlem named Precious (newcomer Gabourey Sidibe) who's already pregnant with her second child as a result of her father's sexual abuse, a predicament her vicious mother (Mo'Nique) has done nothing to put a stop to and may even be jealous of.

In short, Push has nothing in common with some of the twee indie films that often break out here—except that it has broken out, quickly becoming one of the festival's most buzzed-about movies. It's wild, comedic, and audacious, and it's directed by Lee Daniels, whose previous film Shadowboxer featured a full-frontal Stephen Dorff (not to mention Cuba Gooding Jr. graphically screwing stepmom Helen Mirren). Daniels is clearly no shrinking violet and neither is his film, but Sapphire's source novel provides a dramatic underpinning that keeps the camp from spinning out of control.

Need an example? The shadowy upper-lipped Carey gives one of the film's least campy performances as a weary, makeup-free social worker. For someone who regularly bathes in Cristal, who even knew that Carey still had it in her to play a real person? Daniels delights in taking glammed-up stars and toning them way, way down—we may have recognized the near-unrecognizable Carey and Lenny Kravitz before the audience started whispering, "Is that them?" but we were stymied when Sherri Shepherd still hadn't appeared by the end of the film. Then, with a shock, we realized that she'd been playing one of the small supporting characters the whole time and we hadn't realized it—and we study her for a living!

We'll see what the festival (and hopefully America) will make of Push soon—though we can't wait for the sure-to-be-clueless reception it will get from the older, straight white men who make up the critical fleet here. "I don't know whether anyone will say this out loud, but this is a very, very Black movie," wrote a tentative David Poland. It doesn't need to be said; the film sings like a Harlem gospel choir on LSD.