Fox to distribute Dreamworks' films

Writer: Peter Chai

20th Century Fox will distribute animated feature films from the creator of "Shrek", Dreamworks Animation, for five years.

23 Aug – 20th Century Fox will be taking over Viacom unit Paramount Pictures' role to distribute Dreamworks Animation's animated feature films under a five-year deal, starting next year.

According to the deal, Fox will be getting about 8 per cent from total gross sales in cinemas from each movie as a fee, similar to Paramount Pictures', although they will benefit more as both studios can take advantage of lower costs from digital distribution.

"This deal is an absolute win-win," said Dreamworks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg.

"Starting in 2013, DreamWorks Animation content will be distributed in the more traditional markets under a fee structure that is similar to our existing arrangement with our current distributor," continued Katzenberg. "However, our new agreement with Fox presents more favourable economics overall for DreamWorks Animation because we are taking advantage of lower costs associated with the emerging digital distribution landscape and managing domestic television distribution in-house."

To obtain an estimate of what the fee will be like, Paramount has received about US$4 million (RM15 million) from Dreamworks last year. The studio will distribute its last film for Dreamworks, "Rise Of The Guardians", in November.

In 2013, Fox will start off their new deal by distributing Kirk DeMicco's "The Croods" by Dreamworks Animation, followed by "Turbo", which has "Green Lantern" star Ryan Reynolds voicing the main character.

In addition, Dreamworks is in talks with Fox about their new plan to start a family-oriented cable channel using characters from Classic Media like "Caspers", "Rocky And Bullwinkle" and "Lassie", alongside Dreamworks's "Shrek" and "Kung Fu Panda".

"Kung Fu Panda 2" is one of Dreamworks' critically acclaimed franchises.

In Malaysia, Dreamworks Animation films such as "Kung Fu Panda", "Kung Fu Panda 2", "Madagascar", "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted" and "Shrek Forever After" were all previously distributed by United International Pictures (UIP).

Besides giving distribution rights to Dreamworks Animation animated features, UIP has also gave up distribution rights for Marvel blockbusters like "Captain America", "Thor", "The Incredible Hulk" and "Iron Man" to the hands of Walt Disney Pictures, incidentally making the inception of "Marvel's The Avengers" possible.