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December 1, 2008 8:01:56 AM CST


DreamWorks

DreamWorks news stories

1 - 20 of 22 Stories | 1 2 Next >>

 Audiences Flock to Madagascar 

Animated flick wins weekend box office

(Newser) - Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa had the year's best opening for an animated family flick, pulling in $63.5 million to win the weekend box office, Variety reports. R-rated gross-out comedy Role Models, meanwhile, surprised by taking second place with $19.3 million. The remaining top five: High School Musical 3: Senior Year ($9.3 million), Changeling ($7.3 million) and Zack and Miri Make a Porno ($6.5 million). More »

MOVIE REVIEW
(Newser) - Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa brings back the on-the-run New York menagerie, and DreamWorks hasn't monkeyed much with the first movie's winning, if slightly tired, formula, say critics. The celebrity-voiced animals' new adventure "is aimed mostly at children and should score a direct hit," Kirk Honeycutt writes in the Hollywood Reporter . More »

More about:  movie movie review DreamWorks Ben Stiller animation animated movie Chris Rock David Schwimmer

 Spielberg 
 Strikes Huge 
 Universal Deal 

Universal Studios to distribute up to 6 films a year

(Newser) - Steven Spielberg is returning to the Hollywood studio where he made his classic blockbusters Jaws and ET.   Spielberg's DreamWorks, backed with $1.4 billion in new financing, has struck a seven-year distribution deal with Universal for as many as six new releases a year, according to the Hollywood Reporter . More »

More about:  Steven Spielberg DreamWorks Universal Studios Paramount David Geffen Jaws Stacey Snider

Spielberg, Paramount Split DreamWorks Projects

Divorce accomplished without years of litigation, projects divvied up

(Newser) - It may be one of the most amicable Hollywood divorces in history. Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks announced a division of 200 movie projects in development as golden-touch producer Steven Spielberg leaves to launch a new company, according to the Hollywood Reporter . The unexpectedly easy split comes in defiance of Hollywood experts who had predicted years of litigation. The two companies will even remain partners on up to 40 projects. More »

More about:  Steven Spielberg Viacom DreamWorks Paramount Pictures David Geffen Transformers Tintin

 Suit: Spielberg 
 Copied Hitchcock 

Copyright owner says Disturbia rips off Rear Window

(Newser) - Steven Spielberg ripped off Rear Window when he made last year’s thriller Disturbia , a lawsuit filed yesterday alleges. The 1954 Alfred Hitchcock classic was based on a 1942 short story, and the owner of the rights to the story has sued for compensation from Spielberg, DreamWorks, and Paramount Pictures, the AP reports. The defendants declined comment. More »

OPINION

How Thunder's Joke Hurts
the Disabled

'Retard' a painful word for mother of daughter with Downs

(Newser) - Patricia E. Bauer suffers every time her Downs syndrome daughter hears the word "retard." When Bauer saw ads for Tropic Thunder, which jokes about retardation, they echoed every insult that her blond, blue-eyed daughter had endured for 24 years . After weeks of debate, Bauer remains stunned by ads that feature "the word ‘retard’ without a thought to the consequences," she writes in the Washington Post More »

More about:  movie marketing DreamWorks disability Ben Stiller Tropic Thunder disability rights mental retardation

 Cruise's Partner Quits UA

Actor's new role is trying to revive his own career

(Newser) - The next mission impossible for Tom Cruise may be reviving his own career, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Cruise's business partner Paula Wagner is quitting her job as CEO of United Artists just weeks after her husband, Cruise's agent Rick Nicita, left CAA. The changes likely reflect the star's unhappiness with his career as he casts about for suitable roles and a new screen image, say industry observers. More »

MOVIE REVIEW

 Tropic Thunder
 Declares Comedy War

No targets are safe in Ben Stiller's gross-out war comedy

(Newser) - The action comedy Tropic Thunder, a send-up of Vietnam War movies, crosses some lines—intentionally. In fact, Peter Hartlaub writes in the San Francisco Chronicle , "if you're not offended by at least one aspect of this film, then you're probably not getting out enough." But it has a secret weapon, he writes: It's "laugh-until-your-stomach-hurts hilarious." More »

More about:  movie review comedy Tom Cruise DreamWorks Ben Stiller Jack Black Tropic Thunder Robert Downey Jr.

DreamWorks Jilts AMD
for Intel

Major coup in battle between rival chipmakers

(Newser) - In an important win over its sometimes-struggling rival, Intel has wooed away AMD client DreamWorks Animation. DreamWorks will replace its current servers and computer workstations, which use AMD chips, with new Intel-powered ones. The studio said the change will make its computing faster and help it start producing 3-D animation, reports the Wall Street Journal . More »

More about:  Intel computer chip DreamWorks AMD

DreamWorks Near Bollywood Alliance

Deal would speed Spielberg team's Paramount departure

(Newser) - Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks venture is closing in on a deal with an Indian media conglomerate that could fund a break from Paramount Pictures, the Wall Street Journal reports. Mumbai-based Reliance, a conglomerate with stakes in telecom, finance, and entertainment looking to expand into Hollywood, could bring as much as $600 million. The Spielberg team's relations with Paramount have grown chilly recently. More »

More about:  Steven Spielberg Viacom DreamWorks Paramount Bollywood David Geffen Jeffrey Katzenberg

 Kung Fu
 Kicks Up
 Big Bucks 

Dreamworks' flick grosses $60M

(Newser) - Kung Fu Panda kicked Adam Sandler's new comedy You Don't Mess With the Zohan at the box office, raking in $60 million in the biggest opening weekend for a Dreamworks flick after the Shrek sequels, Variety reports. Zohan grossed $40 million, while Sex and the City is just shy of the $100 million mark in its second weekend. More »

More about:  box office Sex and the City DreamWorks Adam Sandler kung fu Dreamworks

movie review

 Kung Fu Panda Kicks Butt 

Old story becomes a fun journey in fast-paced martial arts animation 

(Newser) - Dreamworks' animal extravaganza Kung Fu Panda isn't packed full of surprises, the critics say, but top-notch visual and voice acting lift it above the standard animal adventure fare. Jack Black gives the lead character, a pudgy panda who dreams of becoming a martial arts master, a "slightly abashed suburban-couch-potato sweetness," Owen Gleiberman writes in Entertainment Weekly . More »

More about:  movie review Angelina Jolie DreamWorks Jack Black animation animated movie Jackie Chan Lucy Liu Dustin Hoffman kung fu