Tom Cruise’s mid-life meltdown cost him his relationship with Paramount. Now the man who directed him in MINORITY REPORT could depart the studio too. Steven Spielberg, along with partners Jeffrey Katzenburg and David Geffen sold DreamWorks to Paramount back in 2005. During that time they’ve done decent business – DreamWorks have brought some financial (see TRANSFORMERS, BLADES OF GLORY) and critical acclaim (DREAMGIRLS) to a studio that had become a laughing stock (the STAR TREK franchise).
You’d think that they’d all be supertight best buds. You’d be wrong. Internal politics and big egos have driven a wedge between the DreamWorks boys and Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone and Paramount’s Brad Grey.
“The deal for us has been highly profitable and is ahead of schedule,” Grey said. “It would always be better to have Steven and DreamWorks with us, but of course we’ll be OK if they leave.”
I think the general feeling is that bridges have been burned and while it may not be Spielberg himself who’s endured a fractured relationship with the studio, the DreamWorks “dream team” look like they will up and leave when their deal expires.
Spielberg will have to leave behind a lot of projects near and dear to him (including Peter Jackson’s THE LOVELY BONES), however there’s one Paramount movie that we’ll definitely see his name attached to according to the LA Times.
Even if he leaves, Spielberg will remain the crown jewel of the acquisition for many years. He and director Michael Bay have signed on to make TRANSFORMERS 2, scheduled to hit theaters in the summer of 2009.
Yowzers! I thought that movie was up in the air, apparently not. If TF2 does go through for 2009 then that summer is already looking juicy. Two of the great action directors (George Miller with Justice League, Jim Cameron with AVATAR) will face off against one of the worst. I have no idea which one will come out on top that summer, but I could see all of them easily coasting past £250 million domestic.
With this apparent Spielberg fall out, what could this mean for any future INDIANA JONES flicks? Personally I’m hoping this puts an end to the franchise, I’m not too thrilled about seeing it continue with Shia as the main man.
source – la times
One Comment
Spielberg going solo? Wasn’t that what Dreamworks was all about? And what exactly did Paramount buy when they purchased Dreamworks, if not Spielberg? I mean, do they get Spielberg/Katzenberg/Geffen’s percentage of revenues from all Dreamworks projects or something?
And for Spielberg to team up with Mivhael Bay again -that’s like John Ford teaming up with Pauly Shore. The guy has already done enough damage to his rep without turning in another sh*tty Transformers movie. Working iwth Tom cruise is one thing, but michael Bay? He will seem SO the ultimate money-whore if he follows one talentless disaster with another.