How Harvey Weinstein attempted to 'mess with' Robin Williams' career

A producer on the 1997 film Good Will Hunting has revealed why it was taken out of theatres so soon. Photo / Supplied

The 1997 feature film Good Will Hunting starring Ben Affleck and Matt Damon proves that a small project can result in huge earnings.

Directed by Gus Van Sant, the drama earned over $US225 million, winning two Oscars - but there appeared to have been some drama after filming finished, reports the New York Post.

The film's co-executive producer Kevin Smith has claimed that disgraced movie mogul and Miramax founder Harvey Weinstein wanted to take the film out of theatres early in an attempt to "mess with" star Robin Williams' career.

In a new book, Smith revealed that Williams had signed a back-end deal that if the film grossed over $100 million, he would take a larger portion of the profits and split it with Miramax.

He said: "I remember when Good Will Hunting was leaving theatres and it felt weird because it was like, 'Wait? There's all this Oscar buzz, so why would you pull it if it was just making money?' And they did it because keeping it in theatres meant that more of the money would go to Robin, whereas the moment it went to video, the split wasn't Robin-heavy. It was hamstrung because [of] greed."

Several of Smith's films including Chasing Amy and Jersey Girl were produced by Weinstein and Miramax, many of them starring Affleck and Damon.

Good Will Hunting itself was made on a small budget but scored nine Academy Award nominations, while Williams won for Best Supporting Actor while Affleck and Damon won for Best Screenplay.

Harvey Weinstein reportedly tried to undermine Robin Williams with the move. Photo / Getty Images

Smith's book also reveals that he came up with the now-household couple name "Bennifer" - given to Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez in the early 2000s.

The pair starred in Smith's 2004 film Jersey Girl when he gave them the name on the set of the film.

"Dubious honour! A dubious honour at best, man," Smith said. "Most people out there, including Ben and Jen themselves, are like, 'Thanks, a***hole.' "

The pair dated from 2002 to 2004 and are now back together.