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Hollywood would be foolish to bet against Harvey Weinstein, even if his just-birthed Weinstein Co. pledges to operate under a policy of fiscal sanity and restraint. The NY Times reports that the New Harvey is willing to yank his belt tight (admittedly, a much easier proposition now that he's dropped much of the weight that could've resulted in a heart attack each time he choked the life from an underachieving employee ) to prove that he can make movies without Disney's open checkbook:

BUT now he confronts a truly majestic opponent: himself. To draw investors, he has agreed to a whole set of restrictions. The brothers will receive small salaries and no bonuses this time around. The company's investment in any individual movie is capped at $40 million. And with no $700 million annuity from Disney, the Weinsteins, who own 51 percent of the company, will squeeze every nickel twice before they spend it.

You could forgive Disney executives for wondering whether this is even the same Harvey Weinstein. [...]

"We should thank Disney for not renewing their contract," said Tarak Ben Ammar, a Tunisian media mogul who owns Quinta Communications and is one of a number of foreign investors. "We are not shooting at the crap table here. There is a very clear business orientation attached to two of the most talented people who ever worked in the movie business."

It's nice to see that New Harvey hasn't gone soft. He's clearly still brimming with the bloodthirsty desire necessary to kidnap the loved ones of wealthy foreign investors, threatening an "accident" if they don't pay protection money to Weinstein Co. and supply suspiciously hyperbolic quotes of praise to the media. He's still got it!