The weird, long, frustrating national nightmare for indie film fans is over. Miramax has finally been sold not to the Weinstein Brothers who founded it or Rob Lowe or anyone all that interesting, but to Ronald Tutor and his collection of financiers, to the tune of $660 million.

The sale isn't quite closed yet, but at some point before the end of the year the group--collectively known as Filmyard Holdings, an oddly apt name for a company that's largely just buying leftover film titles-- will own the rights to Chicago, Shakespeare In Love and Pulp Fiction, along with presumably a handful of the other Miramax films still languishing on the shelves. Filmyard is, however, expected to start financing some new films, which probably isn't the best idea given the state of the independent film industry, but hey, more power to them.

For the last six months-- or, really, for the last few years as the company slowly withered before our eyes-- Miramax has felt like this nagging concern among film fans, something we know we ought to take care of but don't really know how. It seems unlikely that Miramax will ever return to its 90s-era power, but knowing it's now gone to a good home, or at least a home that won't immediately run it into the ground, I think we can all sleep a little better.