DISNEY, WEINSTEINS DEAL MIRAMAX CO-FOUNDERS AGREE TO AMICABLE SEPARATION.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

BURBANK - After more than six months of arduous negotiations, The Walt Disney Co. and Miramax Films co-founders Harvey and Bob Weinstein announced a friendly separation Tuesday but left open the possibility of working together in the future.

Disney will retain the Miramax Films label as well as the company's more than 500-film library, which includes Best Picture Oscar winners ``Chicago,'' ``Shakespeare in Love'' and ``The English Patient.'' The Weinsteins will hold on to the Dimension Films label that such films as the ``Scream,'' ``Spy Kids'' and ``Scary Movie'' franchises have been released under, but not its library.

Financial terms of the separation were not disclosed during an afternoon conference call in which Harvey Weinstein and Walt Disney Studios Chairman Dick Cook discussed the deal. The brothers are said to have received roughly $125 million from Disney.

``After a run such as this, it has been an extremely complicated effort to arrive at the deal,'' said Cook, who called the 12-year relationship ``rare'' and ``unparalleled'' for its contributions to the art of independent filmmaking.

``There's no question Harvey and Bob got some of the finest award- winning films to the big screen,'' Cook said.

It was the high cost of some of those films, such as the epics ``Cold Mountain'' and ``Gangs of New York,'' that led to a rift between the Weinsteins and Disney, which acquired Miramax in 1993. In the end, the filmmaking brothers wanted a bigger annual budget than Disney was willing to spend.

``I think there were divergent beliefs,'' Weinstein said.

The Weinsteins will remain co-chairmen of Miramax on a nonexclusive basis until Sept. 30 in order to complete projects currently in production. They will oversee the marketing and distribution of Miramax and Dimension films already scheduled for release including this Friday's ``Sin City,'' as well as ``Proof,'' ``Underclassmen,'' ``Shark Boy and Lava Girl,'' ``The Great Raid'' and ``The Brothers Grimm.''

Cook said new management for Miramax will be announced in July, leaving three months for a transition process.

Meanwhile, the brothers' new venture will have the interim name of The Weinstein Co., with plans to release 15 to 20 films during the first year. Some of those films include an NC-17 four-hour version of the ``Kill Bill'' movies, ``Derailed'' starring Jennifer Anniston, ``Breaking and Entering'' featuring Jude Law, and ``Come Closer,'' which will be released with Disney as partner.

Other movies are new, untitled projects from Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, a sequel to the cult classic ``Clerks,'' and a horror film, ``Pulse,'' which the Weinsteins hope will become a franchise.

Noticeably absent from Tuesday's conference call was outgoing Disney CEO Michael D. Eisner, with whom the Weinsteins had famously clashed. Eisner will step down as CEO this fall after more than two decades and be replaced by current Disney Chief Operating Officer Robert Iger.

Weinstein said Iger was helpful in bringing the parties together.

``We wish him the best on his new appointment,'' he said. ``We think he'll be a terrific CEO for The Walt Disney Co.''

Eisner released a statement Tuesday praising the Weinsteins.

``Harvey and Bob's unprecedented 12-year association with Disney will go down in the motion picture annals for its unparalleled contributions to independent filmmaking and the entrepreneurial creative spirit they fostered within a corporate environment,'' Eisner said. ``The Weinsteins' passion and enthusiasm for film are infinite and will thrive wherever their vision takes them.''

The relationship between the Weinsteins and Eisner, already tenuous, was further strained last spring when Disney refused to allow Miramax to release Michael Moore's controversial movie ``Fahrenheit 9/11,'' which Eisner said was too politically charged to be released during an election year.

The Weinsteins then personally acquired all rights to the movie, which was released in June by independent distributors Lions Gate Films and IFC Films. It became the highest-grossing documentary in history, earning nearly $120 million at the domestic box office.

Their kindest words for Eisner came in a prepared statement, which read: ``We know that there is no bigger fan of our movies than Michael Eisner and think it was pretty brave of him to give us the ability to make movies like 'Hero' and 'City of God.'''

Weinstein admitted that letting go of the Miramax name has ``been the toughest part.'' The name is a combination of the Weinsteins' parents, Miriam and Max Weinstein.

``It's always tough to leave a company named after our parents,'' he said.

Media analyst Paul Kim of Traditional Asiel Securities said the agreement had no real surprises but is a good feather in the cap for Iger, appointed CEO just two weeks ago.

``This is obviously the post-Eisner Bob Iger era,'' Kim said. ``This is the first thing the new CEO has to deal with. But the major one is obviously Pixar: Can they come up with another mutually agreeable arrangement or separation?''

Greg Hernandez, [phone]

greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com