Originally slated for a July 24, 2009 release, financial troubles at the distribution company (the Weinstein Company) and disagreements about how to market the Kirsten Dunst / Ryan Gosling vehicle, “All Good Things,” put the film's 2009 release into limbo. Eventually director Andrew Jarecki (who previously produced and directed one of the best documentaries of the past 10 years, "Capturing the Friedmans") cut a deal to get the domestic theatrical rights back. Terms of that deal are not public, but insiders say Jarecki (who made a fortune when the movie hotline he co-founded, Moviefone, sole to AOL) paid between $6 million to $8 million to the Weinsten Co. for pay TV and domestic theatrical rights for "All Good Things."
While the financially-strapped Weinsteins will not release Jarecki's movie theatrically in the U.S., they did apparently keep international rights for the film, as well as the basic cable television rights.
After buying back key domestic distribution rights to his film, Andrew Jarecki was able to cobble together another deal for distribution, this time with Magnolia - although the Magnolia roll-out was anything but typical.
Even though many theater owners still refuse to show a film that has already been available on TV, Magnolia's US release of "All Good Things" started with VOD, followed by a "platform" theatrical release - starting on December 3 with two theaters in New York (the Paris and Angelika) and then in the following week in Los Angeles - which is enough to qualify for Oscars. Despite going to video first, the film had grossed around $140,000 in theaters as of Dec. 16th, 2010.
As if all the drama surrounding the release of "All Good Things" wasn't enough,
there are reports that a powerful New York based real estate business, The Durst Organization, is threatening to sue Andrew Jarecki and his distributors, claiming that "All Good Things" (which is based on a notorious unsolved murder case involving an heir to the Durst empire) is defamatory.
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