Dreamworks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg is expected to leave the company he founded if a proposed $3 billion sale to Comcast is successful, an individual with knowledge of the situation told the Wrap.
Comcast would combine DreamWorks with Illumination Entertainment, its animation division led by Chris Meledandri, and Katzenberg would almost certainly be phased out, the individual said.
DreamWorks Animation’s current market value is $2.3 billion, so a sale price of $3 billion would be a coup. The studio has struggled as a standalone entertainment business since it was spun off from DreamWorks SKG as a publicly traded company in 2004. The company was recently forced to cut back its annual number of releases and lay off nearly 20 percent of its staff.
Katzenberg has made a number of attempts in recent years to sell the company to one of the major Hollywood studios, and Hasbro also made a strong play for DWA in late 2014, though it ultimately failed to materialize. Katzenberg recently floated Viacom/Paramount as a potential buyer as well, and had previously held talks with Japan’s Softbank and several Chinese companies.
DWA’s stock has been pummeled due to a limited schedule of animated films in an increasingly crowded market that has made every project a high-risk release. The stock price is currently around $27 per share, down from its high of $35 per share in December 2013, and back up from a low of $17 in September of last year.
DreamWorks Animation's Biggest Blockbusters and Bombs (Photos)
It's not enough for a film's box office to simply exceed its production budget. Marketing costs aren't included in a studio's reported spending on a film, the ticket sales of which are shared with theaters. That means that a film must make significantly more than its production budget to break even. Here are some of the most and least profitable films from the studio.
Hit: "Shrek 2" Release: 2004 Budget: $150 million Worldwide Gross: $919.8 million ($1.16 billion after inflation)
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Miss: "Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas" Release: 2003 Budget: $60 million Worldwide Gross: $80.8 million ($104.6 million after inflation)
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Hit: "Shrek the Third" Release: 2007 Budget: $160 million Worldwide Gross: $799 million ($917.7 million after inflation)
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Miss: "The Road to El Dorado" Release: 2000 Budget: $95 million Worldwide Gross: $76.4 million ($105.7 million after inflation)
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Hit: "Shrek Forever After" Release: 2012 Budget: $145 million Worldwide Gross: $752.6 million ($821 million after inflation)
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Miss: "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron" Release: 2002 Budget: $80 million Worldwide Gross: $122.6 million ($162.3 million after inflation)
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Hit: "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted" Release: 2012 Budget: $145 million Worldwide Gross: $746.9 million ($774.7 million after inflation)
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Miss: "Flushed Away" Release: 2006 Budget: $149 million Worldwide Gross: $178.1 million ($210.3 million after inflation)
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Hit: "Kung Fu Panda 2" Release: 2011 Budget: $150 million Worldwide Gross: $665.7 million ($704.7 million after inflation)
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Hit: "Kung Fu Panda" Release: 2008 Budget: $130 million Worldwide Gross: $631.7 million($698.7 million after inflation)
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Miss: "Antz" Release: 1998 Budget: $105 million Worldwide Gross: $171.8 million ($250.9 million after inflation)
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Hit: "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" Release: 2008 Budget: $150 million Worldwide Gross: $603.9 million ($667.93 million after inflation)
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Miss: "Mr. Peabody & Sherman" Release: 2014 Budget: $145 million Worldwide Gross: $275.7 million ($277 million after inflation)
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Hit: "How to Train Your Dragon 2" Release: 2014 Budget: $145 million Worldwide Gross: $621.5 million ($625.16 million after inflation)
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TheWrap counts the studio’s biggest hits and misses as Comcast considers buying Jeffrey Katzenberg’s baby
It's not enough for a film's box office to simply exceed its production budget. Marketing costs aren't included in a studio's reported spending on a film, the ticket sales of which are shared with theaters. That means that a film must make significantly more than its production budget to break even. Here are some of the most and least profitable films from the studio.