Vincent D'Onofrio Fills Weinstein's Shoes

ioncinema.com
by Eric Lavallee on Dec 15, 2009
Source: Screen Daily

In a period where the studio-based portion independent film industry are on suicide watch, it'll be fun to relive a time when Harvey Weinstein and everyone competing against him could do no wrong. Ever since we got word that there was a screenplay based on Peter Biskind's incendiary book was making the rounds (Jeffrey Wells) and there was activity on the production that a crew were in Cannes filming, but now we got word that Down and Dirty Pictures (a 10 million dollar production) has got a great cast in place (Hugh Dancy, Matthew Perry, Andy Serkis, Sally Hawkins, Elias Koteas, Bobby Cannavale, Toby Jones and Michael Rispoli) with Scren Daily reporting that Vincent D'Onofrio is poised to take on the "role" of Weinstein.

Written by Joshua James and Dean Craig, this is based on Peter Biskind's non-fiction book Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film. This is about the mavericks who helped to create, mold, and later reinvent the modern day independent film industry. Featuring a stellar ensemble cast and cameos from Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, this riveting story charts the rise of the Sundance Film Festival, how Sex, Lies, and Videotape and Pulp Fiction got made and the intense rivalry between Harvey Weinstein's Miramax and Bingham Ray's October Films as the two companies slug it out for pre-eminence in the world of early 90's indie filmmaking.

Ken Bowser, the director of the doc film Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood, is directing.

Thanks Jenn!
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Movieline.com
Written by S.T. VanAirsdale | 16 Dec 2009

Hollywood Ink: Vincent D'Onofrio May Play Harvey Weinstein. Seriously.

· As we rocket toward the end of the ’00s, time is running out to determine the greatest casting rumors of the decade. Thankfully we have the producers of Down and Dirty, the long-planned adaptation of Peter Biskind’s celebrated indie-film tome Down and Dirty Pictures, to wallop the competition with word that Vincent D’Onofrio is in talks to play the book’s mad, evil genius Harvey Weinstein. Ever the Method actor, D’Onofrio will immediately commence touting his performance for Oscar consideration.
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Insidemovies.com/Moviefone 12.16.09

Vincent D'Onofrio to Play Harvey Weinstein in 'Down and Dirty'

Vincent D'Onofrio played Orson Welles in Tim Burton's 'Ed Wood,' and now he's preparing to portray another one-of-a-kind Hollywood mogul.

Screen Daily reports that D'Onofrio will take on the role of Miramax Films co-founder Harvey Weinstein in 'Down and Dirty,' an adaptation of Peter Biskind's nonfiction bestseller, 'Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film.' The film will be produced by Yamani Pictures, which also has director Bill Condon's Richard Pryor biopic 'Is It Something I Said' (starring Eddie Murphy) on its upcoming production slate.

Biskind's 'Down and Dirty Pictures' is another of the author's no-holds-barred examinations of Hollywood, concentrating on the independent film movement of the '90s, of which Miramax was a major player. Biskind is also the author of 'Easy Riders, Raging Bulls,' which chronicled the entertainment industry from the late '60s through the '70s.

We think Vincent D'Onofrio's intensity, eccentricity and larger-than-life physicality make him the perfect choice to play Harvey Weinstein. What remains to be seen is if the film adaptation of 'Down and Dirty' is able (or willing) to capture the book's alternately oddly affectionate and unapologetically scathing portrait of the Miramax man.

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