In an open letter to the press, The Weinstein Company board member Richard Koenigsberg has responded to a veiled threat by billionaire Mark Cuban that he might try to block the company’s efforts to buy back Miramax.

Koenigsberg’s response followed an email today [21] to Bloomberg by Cuban, a minor investor in The Weinstein Company, in which he said he “had issues” with the Weinsteins over the release of the 2009 drama The Road.

Cuban felt the $25m film should have received greater support after it grossed $8.1m in North America and a further $15.8m overseas. Asked if he would support a deal to buy Miramax, Cuban said: “I haven’t made up my mind yet and have my lawyers pulling together all the information. We have some disputes. So while I’m optimistic we can get them settled, we may have to interject ourselves in the deal legally.”

In the open letter Koenigsberg said: “Any board member who speaks to a member of the press is in violation of a confidentiality agreement and the board will pursue that vigorously.

“Mark Cuban is one of our shareholders who we admire greatly. He is not on the board and it is our understanding that the issue he spoke to the press about is regarding the distribution of a movie he produced called The Road.

“The dispute is limited to the amount of theatres it played.  We have been diligently working to rectify this situation. The Road is a movie that we are all proud of, and only wish it could have done better at the box office.”

Koenigsberg opened his letter by saying: “On behalf of The Weinstein Company and the board of directors I am going on record to say that we couldn’t be more excited about the possibility of The Weinstein Company being in business with Ron Burkle, Fortress and the possibility of an acquisition of Miramax. While no Miramax deal has been completed, we give our full support to Bob and Harvey in their efforts on behalf of the Weinstein Company in relation to Miramax.”

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