Disney pulls release of DARK

Another stroke of bad luck for Guillermo del Toro. First, his unfortunate exit from THE HOBBIT and now this: Disney has decided to pull DONT BE AFRAID OF THE DARK from release pending the sale of Miramax.

The L.A. Times reports that Del Toro is “devastated”.

Here is an excerpt from the report:

“It’s been 13 years trying to make this movie, and we finally make it,” he said of the movie about an estate whose basement is inhabited by devilish creatures. “It’s quite shocking. I am trying to see the silver lining in this.”

Added producer Mark Johnson, who was informed of Disney’s decision by the studio’s production President Sean Bailey today: “We were primed to come out. It’s pretty disastrous.”

One person close to the matter said that Disney didn’t want to spend marketing money to release a picture that it wouldn’t own. It originally was going to put out the movies on behalf of the new Miramax owners in exchange for a percentage of revenue.

The report goes on to say that Filmyard Holdings will own the films as part of their $660 million acquisition of Miramax.

Filmyard plans to find a different distribution partner to put out DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK after the acquisition is complete, estimated at sometime late next year.