DreamWorks Animation: Cool With Paramount

As Hollywood continues to speculate over the machinations behind that BusinessWeek article about the possibility of DreamWorks toppers David Geffen and Steven Spielberg leaving Paramount when their contracts expire, DreamWorks Animation head Jeffrey Katzenberg did nothing to fan the flames during a recent conference call about DWA's second quarter earnings (it was good news, by the way. Revenue tripled to $225 million and net income quadrupled to $61.8 million, due to the success of Shrek the Third, which Paramount released). If anything, he offered an olive branch (maybe there was something to Anne Thompson's theory that Paramount might want to one day buy DWA?). "We feel they have done an outstanding job of marketing and distributing our products to date," Katzenberg said. "We continue to have very, very good relationships over there with all the management from Brad on down."

He later told Variety that a possible departure by Geffen and Spielberg from the live-action studio, or any other changes in their deal with Paramount wouldn't impact DreamWorks Animation's distribution deal with Paramount. DWA is hoping that Shrek The Third will continue to drive revenue for the rest of the year (it has made around $320 million in theaters domestically so far), with most foreign box office coming in this quarter and home-vid money in the fourth. Their Bee Movie, written by and starring Jerry Seinfeld, comes out in November. The studio also confirmed that there's a fifth Shrek installment in the works.

DreamWorks Animation flies high [Variety]

[Photo: REUTERS/Will Burgess/Landov]