DreamWorks Animation’s Jeffrey Katzenberg said a new distribution deal would be in place prior to Labor Day and it looks like that day is today. DWA is going with 20th Century Fox. The agreement sees Fox Filmed Entertainment as an “animated powerhouse” (as Deadline puts it). Already owning Fox Animation Studios, the studio also has Blue Sky Studios, makers of the hit Ice Age series and Rio, and next summer’s Epic.
With the agreement, Fox will “assume certain marketing and distribution responsibilities in both domestic and international markets for all animated feature films produced by DreamWorks Animation for release in 2013 through 2017.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Fox will receive a distribution fee on worldwide theatrical and home video gross receipts as well as on international television, and on certain digital businesses, including rentals, SVOD and EST. DreamWorks Animation will retain the rights to distribute its product in the domestic television windows without paying a fee to Fox.
