No. Miramax wasn't funding the movie and he was authorized to shop it around under the condition Mirmax gets reimbursed. It was that cut version he was trying to get another studio to pick up. New Line after hearing his pitch asked him to restore his script and even make it grander. That isn't a lie as my earlier article indicated. The amusing part is you are the one trying to spin things in favor of Mr. Jackson by ignoring how he was going to make a two movie film for $75 million dollars and a watered down script until Miramax got cold feet.