Weinstein Company set to file for bankruptcy

The Weinstein Company's board of directors says the company is expected to file for bankruptcy protection after last-ditch talks to sell its assets collapsed.

Now-disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein co-founded the company in 2005. He was fired last October after being accused of sexual assault and harassment by dozens of women. Weinstein Company has been searching for a financial saviour ever since. Weinstein has denied all allegations.

The board said on Sunday night that it has no choice but to pursue bankruptcy, The Los Angeles Times reports. 

The decision came after the board was unable to revive a deal to sell the struggling studio for about $500 million to an investor group.

As part of the pact, the bidders had promised to raise at least $40 million for a fund to compensate Weinstein's accusers.

The Company was formed in 2005 after its founders, Harvey and his brother Bob, left Miramax Films, the entertainment company they created in 1979 and rose to prominence after making films such as Pulp Fiction, The Crying Game and Shakespeare in Love.

The Weinstein Company went on to release Oscar-winner The King's Speech as well as successful television shows such as Project Runway.

Several films currently in the making have a questionable future with news of the bankruptcy. One-time Oscar hopeful The Current War, which stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Thomas Edison, premiered to lukewarm reviews at Toronto Film Festival, but has had little advancement on its pushed-back release date of November 2017.

Similarly, Bryan Cranston comedy-drama The Upside opened at Toronto but is looking unlikely to go on major international release. 

In November, industry reports claimed that releasing The Current War in the wake of the Weinstein allegations would have been "impossible", and ruled out the release of any Weinstein Company films in 2017. With the company on the brink of collapse, those films, along with others Hotel Mumbai and the Rosamund Pike-starring The Man with the Iron Heart, could be left without a release date.