Animation

Dreamworks rejects agreement with Paramount Pictures

Skip to comments

Alan Gardner August 4, 2011 1 minute 1 comment

Last month it was reported that Paramount Pictures was getting into the animation business with their own studio. They’ve been the distributor for Dreamworks, but Dreamworks has told Paramount it will not extend their agreement (that ends in 2012) for another year.

Under their existing deal, Paramount receives 8% of each movie’s revenue for its distribution services. DreamWorks Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg has made it clear that he is looking pay less in the future.

Executives at Paramount and most observers in Hollywood had not expected the two companies to continue working together, as their relationship has become increasingly strained. The extension offer had no expiration date, so it is unclear why DreamWorks officially rejected Paramount’s proposal at this time.

The decision leaves Dreamworks in a bind. The only other major studio without an animation studio is Warner Bros who has said they’re not interested in distributing Dreamworks movies. The other option is to release it themselves or hope that someone buys them like Disney bought Pixar.