Comcast Possibly Acquiring Dreamworks Animation

[Jane]

http://www.cartoonbr...ons-139187.html

 

Comcast, a cable/internet provider, which also owns Universal Pictures (and therefore Illumination, Focus and Grammercy Pictures, etc.) is in talks to acquire DreamWorks Animation.

 

In case you haven't heard, DreamWorks films have been bombing pretty badly these past few years (most notably Penguins and RoTG) and Jeff Katzenberg even fantasized about Viacom outright merging with them a few months ago.

 

Jeffrey Katzenberg too may leave, which in and of itself I wouldn't mind. According to rumors he was heavily involved in the wage fixing scandal which I find morally reprehensible.

 

However, it seems like Comcast is only interested in proliferating it's IP and character across theme parks and they may completely gutter the feature film division, and let go thousands of employees.

 

I know this is kind of silly since comparing Comcast to DreamWorks is like the lesser of two evils, but this would be a huge loss for the animation community, and for all the employees who will possibly lose their jobs if this goes through.

 

Wouldn't be surprised if they do though, Illumination is much cheaper to run and has huge profit margins. 

Edited April 28, 2016 by Teamwork

[Jane]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2016/04/28/comcast-nbc-acquire-dreamworks-animation/83640258/

And once again, I spoke too soon.

[Joe Biden]

Just wait for that Shrek/Minions crossover movie.

[NegiSpongie]

What will this mean for How to Train Your Dragon and  Kung Fu Panda?

[terminoob]

3 minutes ago, NegiSpongie said:

What will this mean for How to Train Your Dragon and  Kung Fu Panda?

I'd imagine if the head of Illumination thinks they're worth salvaging then he will and they'll be distributed as DreamWorks/Illumination, like how Pixar movies are distributed as Disney/Pixar.

[Jane]

24 minutes ago, terminoob said:

I'd imagine if the head of Illumination thinks they're worth salvaging then he will and they'll be distributed as DreamWorks/Illumination, like how Pixar movies are distributed as Disney/Pixar.

My assumption is they'll consolidate the feature team into Illumination and probably outsource all of the animation. Get ready for the inevitable Despicable Me/Shrek crossover. I hope they keep HTTYD 3 though, I love those movies.

 

BTW, have you seen the reviews for R&C? You were right about non fans hating it. Almost every non-fan review is tearing the movie to shreds. Probably gonna bomb too.

 

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/business/first-thoughts-questions-comcast-dreamworks-deal-139210.html

 

Also Amid did an opinion piece on this. I dislike a lot of his stuff but I agree with him for once.

Edited April 29, 2016 by Teamwork

[Jane]

http://www.wsj.com/articles/movies-arent-main-motive-in-comcasts-pursuit-of-dreamworks-animation-1461792315

I was right!!