Oscar On Line One

Will you work together again?
Every time we do a movie, Scott and I promise that we'll never work together—for the good of the industry. We had a battle over "The Hours." Then the movie won the Golden Globe, and it just amazes me that Scott failed to mention Miramax, which cofinanced the movie.

Did you think "The Dark Knight" had a shot at best picture?
Yeah. I thought the movie was great. The problem is, I don't think "The Reader" knocked out "The Dark Knight." "The Reader" has a fanatical audience. The people who love "The Reader" love it. What you win on, in the first round of nominations, is passion, the people who vote No. 1 for your film. I think "Frost/Nixon" knocked out "Batman." But it's much sexier to say Harvey knocked out "Batman." Now my kids are mad at me. They're like, "Dad, how could you do that?" I'm like, "Guys, I didn't! It was 'Frost/ Nixon'." They're like, "Who's Nixon?" I go, "He's with the Jonas Brothers. He's the older one."

What's going on with "Project Runway"? Bravo sued after you sold the show to Lifetime.
We're still shooting it. Obviously, there's an unfortunate legal case, but I'm sure it will be resolved one way or another.

When?
I'm not 100 percent sure. I think the fans are getting pissed off right now. I think we're starting to see the backlash, where the fans say, "You guys need to sit down and resolve this and do it soon."

When you started the Weinstein Co. in 2005, you said you'd be profitable by 2008.
We weren't. I think something about this economy has to do with it. I speak to people who say if you just stay in business you're doing well.

But didn't you use frequent-flier miles to buy one of screenwriter David Hare's plane tickets?
Can I tell you something? We do that all the time. The budget of "The Reader" went out of control. Of course we're going to use frequent-flier miles. We'll do anything that we can to bring the budgets down.

What's the biggest mistake you made in the last three years?
I took myself out of production. I needed a break. I didn't want to go through the Oscar races; I didn't care anymore. I was fascinated with the idea of cable television, fashion, building an Internet company. It was a personal odyssey. But this idea of loving movies again is something you'll see with [Rob Marshall's new musical] "Nine." We should give you the picture of Judi Dench with the HARVEY necklace.