In a turn of events that recalls an infamous Sundance story of yore, Harvey Weinstein is insisting that The Weinstein Co. locked down rights to Push (not that one, the Sundance one) before Lionsgate made its deal. Fortunately for everyone in Park City, this fight waited until after the film festival ended and ol’ Harv was nowhere near making a scene in a restaurant. Instead, the rights tug-of-war is going to the courts (on both coasts), making everyone think this is the indie version of the Watchmen battle and giving the blogs something more interesting than actors’ rants and masquerades to comment on:

• “Harvey Weinstein constantly pleads poverty on behalf of his The Weinstein Co so that filmmakers will dig into their own wallets for re-shoots that he demands yet won’t fund. But suddenly he’s got big bucks to spend on the nation’s highest priced lawyers,” writes an almost angry Nikki Finke.
• “Of course what all this points up is just how informal those Sundance negotiations are,” writes Risky Biz Blog, “Back of the envelope, middle of an alley, front of a bar. That’s usually where a lot of these discussions take place. Was there enough of a discussion, or agreement, to give TWC a claim? A judge will decide. We just can’t wait until he does — it’s not everyday the judicial system parses the finer points of a night at the Riverhorse.”
• indieWIRE received a joint statement from Cinetic Media’s John Sloss and Bart Walker: “We respect Harvey tremendously. In this case he is over-reaching. There was never a deal with The Weinstein Company, there were numerous material unresolved points.”
• Also at indieWIRE, Eric Kohn discusses the Watchmen parallel: “Push is also a highly anticipated adaptation, one that will also raise the voices of unsatisfied future audience if the fate of its distribution remains in peril. Both movies have pop culture forces enhancing their commercial appeal, although we’re talking about vastly different cultures here: Watchmen has Kevin Smith and Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof, among others, while Push will supposedly get boosted by support from Oprah and Tyler Perry.”
• Vulture points out that, unlike Watchmen, Push is a film that won’t make a lot of money. Referencing yesterday’s NY Times piece on its marketing challenges, they have this bit of snarky inquiry: “Which studio will win the right to distribute Push in like, five theaters? How much additional money will the film lose now that its budget might include a protracted legal battle? Also, who owns the sequel rights?”
• Also on the marketing issue, The Playlist simply says, “Maybe Weinstein should just count his blessings and cut n’ run.” Seriously, he doesn’t need another flop and this isn’t a guaranteed film.
• Defamer also references the Times piece, but argues in favor of its box office appeal: “this film is poised to hit its key money demographic: not black audiences, but women. There’s no way this film won’t be enormously talked about in the press, and Mo’Nique is a sure frontrunner for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar, which ensures that the film will stay in the public eye long enough to far exceed some industry watchers’ expectations.”
• Sticking to the “urban” demographic stance, David Poland notes that Push is better off with Lionsgate than TWC: “Unlike Lionsgate, TWC is NOT a company with a strong history of releasing films for black audiences. On the other hand, they now have Tom Ortenberg, who was probably drooling at the opportunity to top Lionsgate with TWC’s first real urban film.”
• Finally, Cinematical’s Peter Martin asks the big question: “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Harvey Weintein was actually fighting to get the rights solely because he thought he could mastermind a better release than Oprah, Tyler Perry, and Lionsgate?”