Los Angeles: DreamWorks Animation SKG expects to announce a new agreement for distribution of its films in theatres within weeks, replacing an expiring deal with Viacom’s Paramount Pictures.
“We’ll have something in the next couple of weeks,” Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Katzenberg said in a telephone interview. A DreamWorks Animation spokeswoman said later that a decision is expected no later than Labour Day (September 3.)
Katzenberg wouldn’t discuss specifics or say whether the Glendale, California-based studio had ruled out distributing its own movies when the Paramount deal ends this year. Other options include re-upping with Paramount or working with a new studio such as Sony.
“Each and every one of them have pluses and minuses,” Katzenberg said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.
DreamWorks Animation, which on Monday announced the acquisition of Classic Media, fell 0.4 per cent to $19.08 (Dh70) at the close in New York.
The studio, spun off from DreamWorks SKG and taken public by Katzenberg in 2004, has fallen 57 per cent from an all-time closing high of $44 a share on March 24, 2010, as the company, like others in Hollywood, has sold fewer DVDs.
DreamWorks Animation’s most recent theatrical release, “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted,” has generated $476.4 million in worldwide ticket sales since June 8, according to researcher Box Office Mojo. The website estimates the production budget at $145 million.
The next movie, “Rise of the Guardians,” is a computer-generated picture featuring the fictional character Jack Frost battling evil in the world. It is scheduled for a November 21 release and features the voices of Hugh Jackman, Chris Pine and Alec Baldwin, according to the Internet Movie Database.
