Showtime in film deal with Weinstein Co.

Looking to beef up its stock of movies, Showtime on Monday entered into a seven-year deal with Weinstein Co., a producer of independent films.

The pay cable channel has been searching for a source of films since April when it failed to renew deals with its longtime suppliers Paramount Pictures, MGM and Lions Gate. Showtime had demanded that the studios accept substantially lower movie license fees, so the three studios instead decided to strike out on their own and launch a movie channel.

That left Showtime, which is owned by CBS Corp., looking for a replacement.

“This fills a need for them, and a need for us,” said Bob Weinstein, co-founder with his brother Harvey of Weinstein Co.

The deal is expected to include about 95 films produced or acquired by Weinstein Co. Showtime will pay license fees to Weinstein Co. based on the box-office performance of each picture, with the payments capped at $15 million per film.

Hollywood studios rely heavily on their deals with cable movie channels to help cover production costs. The long-term deal could also help Weinstein Co. attract investors.

Until now, the 3-year-old independent studio has had an agreement with MGM to distribute its movies in theaters. It has been selling those films piecemeal to various TV channels, but has lacked an overall cable deal.

The Weinstein brothers’ latest venture has had a rocky start: They so far have failed to duplicate the enormous success they had with Miramax, the studio they founded and later sold to Walt Disney Co. before leaving in 2005.

Once a lucrative and reliable source of revenue, deals between cable channels and movie studios are now harder to negotiate as networks such as HBO and Showtime focus more on original series.

“Both HBO and Starz have been vocal, saying they don’t need any more movies,” said Deana Myers, an analyst with SNL Kagan.

Showtime Chief Executive Matthew Blank said the network would continue to buy movies from other suppliers. Showtime is expected to pay Weinstein Co. “roughly half” the amount it had been paying under its previous arrangements with the other studios, Blank said. In the past, Showtime has shelled out about $300 million a year in movie license fees.

The deal begins with Weinstein Co.’s 2009 release schedule and includes such films as “Nine,” directed by Rob Marshall (“Chicago”), and Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglorious Bastards.” It also includes movies from Dimension Films.

--

meg.james@latimes.com