Miramax Studios, Which Brought Chicago, Doubt, Hamlet to the Screen, Closes

Miramax Studios has closed, according to published reports.

The company, which began business some 30 years ago, was responsible for a host of theater-related films. Perhaps one of its most notable movies was Rob Marshall’s Academy Award-winning film version of the musical Chicago, which won six Oscars including Best Picture and one for Catherine Zeta-Jones. In 2008, Miramax was responsible for the screen version of John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt, starring Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, and Viola Davis.

Other Miramax releases range from Peter Morgan’s The Queen, which starred Helen Mirren and Michael Sheen, to Piñero, a bio-drama about playwright Miguel Piñero, which starred Benjamin Bratt in the title role and included appearances by Reinoldo Povod, Rita Moreno, and Mandy Patinkin as producer Joseph Papp. The company has brought several Shakespearean plays to the screen including a version of Hamlet, which starred, among others, Ethan Hawke, Diane Venora, Sam Shepard, and Liev Schreiber; and Julie Taymor’s film adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, which stars Mirren as Prospero and is currently awaiting distribution.