DreamWorks Will Part With Disney Next Year

Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks Studios will part with Disney in 2016. The agreement that covers the marketing and distribution of DreamWork’s films will expire in August of next year. The two companies have worked together since the formation of the agreement in 2009.

Recent DreamWorks Studios’ films have included a long list of major blockbusters geared towards adults. The Walt Disney Company has moved away from working with these kinds of films in the past few years.

Reports suggest that DreamWorks will part with Disney and not renew the deal it struck with Disney after it expires.

Instead, DreamWorks Studios and Steven Spielberg will search for a new home. That home may be Universal Studios.

DreamWorks is a catch for any film distributor. Under the direction of Steven Spielberg, the studio has produced a huge amount of hit films that were nominated for and won several Academy Awards.

Films created by DreamWorks such as Gladiator, Saving Private Ryan, American Beauty, Shrek, and A Beautiful Mind have transformed into highly rated classic films in only a few years.

Recent films like The Help, War Horse, and Lincoln have helped revitalize the studio and won the group another three Oscar nominations.

Universal Studios would prove to be a comfortable home for DreamWorks Studios after it decides that it will part with Disney. Spielberg has a longstanding relationship with the distributor. His fame as a director came from his work on projects like Jurassic Park and E.T. Both of these films were filmed at Universal Studios.

He was also the executive producer on one of Universal’s most recent blockbusters, Jurassic World.

Some suggest that Universal Pictures is a natural home for Spielberg and his company. However, DreamWorks, Universal Studios, and Walt Disney have declined to comment on the status of the current deal.

Major investment from Disney in 2009 led to a renaissance for DreamWorks over the last several years. Now that the company is courting a new $200 million investment from Participant Media, the studio could gain enough momentum to make four to five films each year.

Of course, every source currently speculating on whether DreamWorks will part with Disney does not have the authority to comment publicly. The companies themselves are keeping mum on the subject. However, a Universal source has suggested that the studio would welcome the chance to work closely with DreamWorks.

It seems that it is never too late for Spielberg to go home again.

[Photo By: Mike Coppola/Getty Images Entertainment]