Is Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks separating from Disney next year? [rumors]
Is multi-awarded director Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks jumping off the Walt Disney ship in favor of going somewhere else?
According to Variety, the distribution deal between DreamWorks and Walt Disney Co. will not be renewed and will expire in August 2016. The deal dates back to 2009. But before the expiry date, two DreamWorks films directed by Spielberg will be released. Cold War film "Bridge of Spies" starring Tom Hanks will be released on Oct. 16 and "The BFG" movie based on Roald Dahl's children's book will be released on July 1, next year.
Entertainment Weekly reports that DreamWorks may find its second home in the arms of Universal. It was under the studio that he produced that blockbuster "Jurassic World."
Spielberg apparently made lots of money from the success of "Jurassic World" that a percentage of the profit is worth tens of millions of dollars, a portion of which was used to pay director Colin Trevorrow. The rebooted dinosaur franchise is the third highest-grossing film in history with James Cameron's "Titanic" and "Avatar" in the lead and second place.
The sequel is reportedly in the works and will be released on June 22, 2018. and it will not be on an island. Trevorrow plans to revolve the story around the idea of dinosaurs being "open-source" and capable of being made by many companies around the world, according to The Guardian.
The overwhelming success of the "Jurassic World" movie could be the basis for the reunion of Universal and DreamWorks.
Another contender would be Fox where ex-DreamWorks partner, Stacey Snider, is the co-chair.
The report added Warner Bros. as another possible distribution home since he has directed "The BFG" and even co-produced it with Disney. He is also set to direct "Ready Player One," a movie adaptation of Ernest Cline's novel. Spielberg's last films in the studio were "A.I. Artificial Intelligence" and 1980's iconic movies "Gremlins" and "The Goonies."
The 2009 deal between DreamWorks and Disney was made by Dick Cook, the former chair of the latter. The Hollywood Reporter reports that since Cook was fired from Disney and replaced by Bob Iger, DreamWorks has been in a financing challenge. However, the studio found Indian entertainment conglomerate Reliance as their backer.
However, Disney isn't out of the running yet as they could offer DreamWorks a better deal seeing as how it is unconfirmed that Spielberg himself will leave Disney for good.
No comment has been released by Universal Studios, DreamWorks or Walt Disney so far.