What Harvey Weinstein wants, he usually gets, or at least makes a valiant effort to do so. And certainly, there is no man in Hollywood you want behind your film, because no one will promote, love, market and raise awareness for your movie like he will. But it seems that some of the strings attached to deals involving Harv may be too much for certain filmmakers, as was the case was for those behind "The Canyons."
With the buzzed indie movie starring Lindsay Lohan and James Deen landing at IFC Films a couple weeks back, THR reports there were some other contenders in the mix — namely Harvey's VOD shingle Radius and Magnolia. The latter filled their sex 'n controversy quotient by nabbing Lars Von Trier's "Nymphomaniac," but a deal with Radius was scuttled after they asked to retain final cut — something that director Paul Schrader "balked" at. Certainly, the specter of Harvey Scissorhands looming in the editing bay is always a risk (he reportedly wanted to make some changes to "Killing Them Softly," but producer Megan Ellison prevented that from happening) but it's not the first time outside help has been suggested for Schrader's movie.
“The film is so languorous. It’s an hour 30, and it seems like it’s three hours long. I saw this as a pranky noirish thriller, but Schrader turned it into, well, a Schrader film,” screenwriter Bret Easton Ellis told the New York Times. And there have been disagreements between the producers and Schrader over the opening of the movie, which he has refused to reshoot at their request, while a cut was shown to Steven Soderbergh who offered to edit the film.
But, for better or worse, Schrader's complete vision is what we'll get when the movie is released this summer.