By Kelsey Schwartzbach
http://www.dreamworksstudios.com
100 Universal City Plaza Dr., Bldg. 5121 Universal City, CA 91608
818-733-9300 [1]
DreamWorks Studios [2]
Key Executives:
A Brief History:
In 1994 Steven Spielberg, along with Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen, founded DreamWorks Studios. Their first full feature film was “The Peacemaker,” released in September of 1997, which starred two hollywood big shots: George Clooney and Nicole Kidman. In 1998 DreamWorks put out, arguably, one of its most successful movies, “Saving Private Ryan,” which was co-production with Paramount. That film did well at the Academy Awards, winning 5 Oscars out of 11 nominations. 1999-2001 were extremely successful years for DreamWorks, they released “American Beauty,” “Gladiator,” (a co-production with Universal Studios) which was the winner of The Academy Awards Best Picture that year, “Almost Famous,” (a co-production with Sony) “Meet the Parents,” (a co-production with Universal) “The Contender,” “Castaway,” (a co-production with 20th Century Fox) and “A Beautiful Mind.” DreamWorks Studios continues to produce excellent and award winning films, such as “War Horse,” “The Help,” and “Lincoln.” [11]
Financials:
Unfortunately, DreamWorks Studios financials are unavailable, but we are able to look at how DreamWorks’ past films have done in the box office to get an idea of how they are doing. DreamWorks most recent film, “The Fifth Estate” did not do well at the box office, and, in turn, DreamWorks lost a fair amount of money. The film cost $28 million to make, and only made $3,240,547 in America. Internationally the film made $2,900,000, making the total profit earned only $6,145,547, meaning DreamWorks Studios lost about $21,854,453, which is a significant amount of money. In addition, DreamWorks is releasing the movie “Delivery Man” on November 22nd, meaning a chance for more income. [12] [13]
Right Here, Right Now
So far, DreamWorks has only released one film in 2013, and that was “The Fifth Estate.”
Poster for The Fifth Estate [15]
A trailer for the film can be seen here. “The Fifth Estate” is a film, based on real events, about WikiLeaks, its founder, Julian Assange, and what happened when WikiLeaks went public. Initially, the film looked like it was going to be a large success, they had a lot of star power, including Benedict Cumberbatch, and an excellent director, which should have drawn a lot of people to the movie. [14]
In addition to Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Fifth Estate” included other successful actors, such as Peter Capaldi, Daniel Bruhl, Laura Linney, and Anthony Mackie. The director of the film was Bill Condon, who directed several successful films, such as “Dreamgirls,” and two of the “Twilight” Saga movies. All of the talent in this movie makes it seem as though it would do well in the box office, but, as stated earlier, this film did not do well in the box office, losing over $20 million on a film is never a studio’s goal. [12] [14] [16]
On Rotten Tomatoes the movie only received an approval rating of 39%, while the average user gave the film a 5.4/10. In addition, Rotten Tomatoes commented on the failure of the movie, stating it was just a platform to show off Cumberbatch’s excellent acting. [17]
Coming soon to a theatre near you
DreamWorks has one other film coming out in 2013, “Delivery Man,” which will premiere this weekend, November 22nd, 2013. A trailer can be seen here. [13]
Poster for Delivery Man [18]
The film stars Vince Vaughn as a lazy delivery man who finds out he accidentally fathered 533 kids from a sperm donation he made some twenty years earlier. 142 children end up filing a lawsuit to find out who their father is. The movie follows Vaughn’s character as he struggles with idea of revealing himself to some of his kids. [13]
The film also stars Chris Pratt and Cobie Smulders, who should draw people in to see the movie. “Delivery Man” is one of the most anticipated movies to come out for the rest of 2013, although the release date was not thought out well. The film is being released the same day as “Catching Fire,” the sequel to the extremely popular “The Hunger Games.” DreamWorks shouldn’t expect the largest numbers for the opening weekend because most audiences will drawn to see “Catching Fire.” The percentage of viewers who want to see this movie on Rotten Tomatoes is 95%. DreamWorks should expect this movie to come in second after “Catching Fire” after the first opening weekend. [13][19][20]
The first film that DreamWorks will release is “Need for Speed,” coming out on March 14th, 2014. [21]
Poster for Need for Speed [22]
The film is based on the popular video game of the same name. It tells the story of a cross-counrty race which starts out as a revenge, but then later turns into redemption. [21]
The film has an exceptional cast to it, starring Aaron Paul, Michael Keaton, Dakota Johnson, Imogen Poots, and popular rapper, Kid Cudi. DreamWorks can expect many Breaking Bad fans to rush to this movie, seeing as Aaron Paul, viewer’s favorite, will star in this movie. In addition, many fans of the acclaimed video game will come to see the movie as well. Many movies based on video games do not do well in the box office, but the star power of the cast will do well to attract many to see this film. [21][23]
In the News
The Bully Pulpit [25]
On October 30th, 2013 DreamWorks Studios gained the film rights to The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism, written by Doris Kearns Goodwin. The book, and movie, will tell the story of Roosevelt and Taft’s friendship turned bitter rivalry. The book is highly anticipated and Goodwin has already won a Pulitzer Prize before for her work. The Bully Pulpit will be a collaborative effort between Goodwin and Spielberg, something that has been done before; both worked together on the award-winning film, “Lincoln,” which was partly based on Doris’ book, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. [24]
The production of “The Hundred-Foot Journey” begun on October 9th, 2013. The film is
The Hundred-Foot Journey [27]
based off of Richard C. Morais’ novel of the same name. It will star academy award winner Helen Mirren, is produced by Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey, and Juliet Blake. The film is set to be release on August 8th, 2014. [26]
Sources:
[1] http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/42/42800.html [Ret: 16 Nov. 2013]
[2] http://www.spectorentertainment.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Dreamworks.jpg [Ret: 16 Nov. 2013]
[3] http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTY1NjAzNzE1MV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwNTk0ODc0._V1._SX267_SY400_.jpg [Ret: 16 Nov. 2013]
[4] http://www.dreamworksstudios.com/about/executives/steven-spielberg [Ret: 16 Nov. 2013]
[5] http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/stacey-snider-268656 [Ret: 16 Nov. 2013]
[6] http://www.dreamworksstudios.com/about/executives/stacey-snider [Ret: 16 Nov. 2013]
[7] http://www.dreamworksstudios.com/files/imagecache/news_image/small_jeff_website.jpg[Ret: 16 Nov. 2013]
[8] http://www.dreamworksstudios.com/about/executives/jeff-small [Ret: 16 Nov. 2013]
[9] http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/sites/default/files/2011/12/Holly_Bario_WIE_40_a_p.jpg [Ret: 16 Nov. 2013]
[10] http://www.dreamworksstudios.com/about/executives/holly-bario [Ret: 16 Nov. 2013]
[11] http://www.dreamworksstudios.com/about/history [Ret: 16 Nov. 2013]
[12] http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=fifthestate.htm [Ret: 16 Nov. 2013]
[13] http://www.dreamworksstudios.com/films/delivery-man [Ret: 16 Nov. 2013]
[14] http://www.dreamworksstudios.com/films/the-fifth-estate [Ret: 17 Nov. 2013]
[15] http://collider.com/the-fifth-estate-featurette/ [Ret: 17 Nov. 2013]
[16] http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0174374/?ref_=ttfc_fc_dr1 [Ret: 17 Nov. 2013]
[17] http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_fifth_estate/ [Ret: 17 Nov. 2013]
[18] http://www.comingsoon.net/gallery/90015/hr_Delivery_Man_7.jpg [Ret: 18 Nov. 2013]
[19] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2387559/ [Ret: 18 Nov. 2013]
[20] http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/delivery_man/ [Ret: 18 Nov. 2013]
[21] http://www.dreamworksstudios.com/films/need-for-speed [Ret: 19 Nov. 2013]
[22] http://displaypict.com/need-for-speed-movie-2014-wallpapers.html [Ret: 19 Nov. 2013]
[23] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2369135/ [Ret: 19 Nov. 2013]
[24] http://www.dreamworksstudios.com/news/dreamworks-studios-acquires-the-film-rights-to-pulitzer-prize-winning-author-doris-kearns-goodw [Ret: 19 Nov. 2013]
[25] http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/sites/default/files/2013/10/the_bully_pulpit.jpg [Ret: 19 Nov. 2013]
[26] http://www.dreamworksstudios.com/news/production-has-begun-on-the-feature-film-adaptation-of-the-hundred-foot-journey-starring-academ [Ret: 19 Nov. 2013]
[27] http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DMqA566VB6w/UdHdGWs4hVI/AAAAAAAAF1A/Fk46RvzNzd4/s600/the-hundred-foot-journey-book-cover-395×600.jpg [Ret: 19 Nov. 2013]
(Ronald Meyer)
It also made franchise movies such as: Meet the Parents, Fast and Furious, Back to the Future, and the Bourne Series. Not only did they make high grossing movies, they also made quality movies which won them the Academy Awards such as: King Kong, Brokeback Mountain, The Pianist, and many more
was the man to start Universal Pictures. While he was planning to start a clothing shop in Chicago in 1905, he came across people waiting in line for a nickelodeon. At that moment Laemmle decided to change his job, and opened his first theater The White Front Theater. From then on, Laemmle started to make more branches of theaters with partners and started making money. Carl Laemmle met Robert Cochrane and expanded their theaters. They made the Laemmle Film Service, which became the largest movie distributor of the country in the early 1900s. After having problems with the motion pictures, Laemmle and Cochrane made their own movies. In 1912 the Universal Film Manufacturing Company was formed and this led to Universal Pictures’ 100th anniversary in 2012 
did great in the box office to end Universal’s 2012 
and has been successful 
Seth McFarlane who created and played Ted hosted the show and asked Universal Pictures to pay for the appearance due to technical issues 
![Universal Pictures logo [1]](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.myfilmviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/universal-pictures-100th-anniversary-logo1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.myfilmviews.com/2012/02/16/the-story-behind-the-universal-pictures-logo/&h=811&w=1500&sz=891&tbnid=azNGy7FcyZtUPM:&tbnh=65&tbnw=120&zoom=1&usg=__8V1u5F0D3KgGXBGBzwXIMnzueIM=&docid=XETkV1Rks8ResM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=hkRiUa_mH-nh4AO5h4DQCg&sqi=2&ved=0CDcQ9QEwAQ&dur=1874){kind=link}