DreamWorks SKG, the studio co-owned by director-producer Steven Spielberg, will be bought by Paramount Pictures, in a deal announced on Sunday in Hollywood.
Paramount is owned by Viacom and will pay $1,6-billion in cash and debt for DreamWorks.
The deal represents a failure by the studio’s founders — director Spielberg, movie industry executive Jeffrey Katzenberg and music entrepreneur David Geffen, together the SKG in DreamWorks’ name — to build a firm successfully integrated across the spectrum of popular arts and culture. The powerhouse trio founded DreamWorks in 1994.
The studio’s catalogue of more than 50 films is on the block and could bring up to $1-billion for Paramount, the Bloomberg financial news agency reported.
The deal for DreamWorks will bring Spielberg, director of such landmark hits as Jaws, Indiana Jones, ET and Schindler’s List, into Paramount — including his upcoming film projects.
The Paramount offer topped bids from NBC Universal, owned by General Electric. — Sapa-DPA