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UPDATE, 2:30 PM: Don’t look for DreamWorks Animation to produce additional movie genre parodies similar to its send up of mob films in Shark Tale, monster movies in Monsters vs. Aliens, and superhero films in Megamind. “All shared an approach and tone and idea of parody, and did not travel well internationally,” CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg told analysts in a conference call after earnings were announced. “We don’t have anything like that coming on our schedule now.” Also in the call, Katzenberg forcefully endorsed Netflix’s growing effort to buy the rights to stream movies and TV shows on the Web. “It has put another buyer in the marketplace, and an aggressive one,” Katzenberg says. “I know for sure it’s good news.” But he refused to take sides on the debate over Premium VOD, saying it’s “not relevant to us today.” He also wouldn’t discuss his company’s plans to negotiate a distribution deal to replace the one with Paramount that expires next year.
PREVIOUSLY, 1:42 PM: Everyone knew that the first part of this year would look disappointing for DreamWorks Animation’s earnings. It didn’t have anything to generate the toy and licensing sales it saw last year with How To Train Your Dragon. Still, DWA’s earnings fell short of analyst estimates for the first quarter. The company reported net earnings of $8.8 million, down 59.4% from the same period last year, on revenues of $108 million, down 33%. That translated into earnings per share of 10 cents, below the 12 cents that analysts expected.
The quarter “was driven primarily by our 2010 films, including Megamind, which had a solid performance following its February 25th release into the home entertainment market,” CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg said in a statement. Megamind DVDs accounted for about $18.1 million of DWA’s revenue in the quarter. But the company saw $19.1 million from Madagascar 2, which was sold to broadcast TV outlets in the U.S. and abroad.
DreamWorks Animation shares, down about 9% so far this year, closed Tuesday at $26.73 and remained unchanged in initial after-hours trading.
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I want to see kungfu panda-2 !!
DW is gonna take a beating this year. They have the sorriest slate i’ve seen in a long time. and next they have the boxing robots movie coming out. who’s running that place?
We’re talking about DreamWorks Animation, not the live-action DreamWorks.
Dreamworks Animation has a kick ass slate for the coming years! Also I think (even though it is just Dreamworks, not Dreamworks Animation) The fighting robot movie looks fantastic!
I LOVE how Wall Street works.
A company makes a solid profit, BUUUUUT not what the analysts projected so everyone has to take a hit.
I KNOW!!! Let’s cut the employee healthcare in half. That’ll make stocks go up…
…for a little while.
George-
You seem to be confusing DreamWorks Animation and regular DreamWorks. They are now two separate things. The “boxing robots” movie you refer to (Real Steel) has nothing to do with DWA.
I’m not completely surprised by this because the success to quality entertainment factor with so many computer animated films is very off. I’m amazed at the blazing success and big debut weekends of films like ‘Monsters vs Alien’ and other studio efforts like “Rio” when the films themselves aren’t equal to anything Pixar puts out.
I still think that American’s are allowing most of these films to walk a path to box office gold as they’re often attended as a family film but imagine over time audiences will grow weary of grade C level entertainment and push creators to up the ante on quality. Or so I hope.
“He also wouldn’t discuss his company’s plans to negotiate a distribution deal to replace the one with Paramount that expires next year.”
I think that means they’re really going to try to self-distribute. Don’t they already handle P&A?
“Kung Fu Panda 2″ now as a franchise, this release is going huge, not to mention it’s a fantastic film, better than the first (yes I did see a screener)… On top of that with “Puss In Boots” November release it will be pulling a good majority of the installed Shrek crowd. Q1 was is a minor hiccup IMO.
What people keep missing in their assessment of animated films, is the lack of a pleasing design. Monsters vs Aliens was horrid, and Megamind looked as though it was an offshoot of the same design team. Tangled on the other hand, while not white hot at home, made huge strides for a princess tale overseas. The excellent design work is at least, impart responsible for that, with cleverly animation, and very well executed 3D. RIO is doing well for the same reasons.
The business of film will always falter when V.P’s and accountants dip their tendrils in the paint bucket and make like van Gogh.
The first film made 631+ million WW..not including dvd sales.. KFP2 will do even higher numbers with 3D sales. The first film was beyond cute and the second is said to be even better. I think they don’t have much to worry about..
I can’t wait to see it. Who doesn’t love a damn Panda..
I want to throw the, uh, Katzenberg among the pigeons here: I don’t think Jeffery can pick ‘em. Remember his Aardman Animations period? Fantastic stuff within a British / European context but the films didn’t fly Stateside. Yes, DreamWorks Animation has had some hits, but Katzenberg’s overall record is uneven.
That’s actually not true, although the myth that Dreamworks Animation has had more flops than hits seems to persist. Dreamworks’ per picture worldwide gross is actually higher than Pixar’s (although I read this pre-Toy Story 3 so maybe that helped Pixar pull ahead.) Every movie studio’s output can be uneven. But Dreamworks is certainly ahead of the pack when it comes to a track record of success. Of course, Pixar is up there too, and definitely at the top of the pack when it comes to critical reception.
“Who doesn’t love the Panda?”
I don’t.
The ending of the first movie blew.. Oh, well, let’s just say it wasn’t a satisfying ending.. They spent so much time going for cheap laughs that they forgot some of the picture’s heart. (They put more of that into the short subject that was packaged with the picture for a while.)
Now, what are they going to do? How is the Panda going to screw up Kung-Fu this time, and make it “funnier” than last time? This time, he’s supposed to know better.
They might actually give the other characters more “breathing space” but since those characters are so underdeveloped (for the most part), you have practically the same weight of exposition dangling around the neck of the second picture as you did the first one. And of course, nothing else matters when “Po” is on screen except the cheap laugh. Then, there’s all the plot groundwork that has to be done for whatever “wind up toy” “evil” that they are using. By the time all this gets done, will there be enough time for “Kung Fu” in a second Panda movie? They oughta call it “Panda II with a cameo by Kung Fu” Some pics ought not have a do again. KFP is one of those. This time, they’re just farming money.
I’m with @dizzyg — I don’t think DWA has anything to worry about for the rest of this year. Both KFP2 and PUSS have built-in fan bases, and should do quite well on a worldwide basis. It will be the years that follow that could prove to be more challenging.
Next year, DWA launches a third “safe zone” project, with MADAGASCAR 3 (currently slated for June 2012) … then it’s off to new projects again until June 2014 — when they’re targeting to release DRAGONS2.
I’m sad to hear they’re not currently planning a Megamind sequel. Due to poor marketing, I had no idea what a gem this was until it was out on DVD. The 3-D thing just seemed gimmicky and turned me off, but now I wish I’d have seen it in 3-D in theaters.
The thing with Megamind was that it actually had a lot of good morals buried in there and the character design, particularly of Megamind, was brilliant. That face was capable of so many amazing expressions, everything from slapstick cartoony things to the best kicked-puppy look I’ve seen in on a CGI character ever, to very normal expressions that make him look like just a normal guy despite the blue skin. It’s one of those that improves the more you watch it as you catch all the little details in the background you missed the first time through.
The movie actually has a lot of depth that may not be appreciated by the kids, but is by the adults.
I’m hoping that they at least have a Christmas special or something, if not an outright sequel. It was a great movie and I hate to think that they’re not going to continue the story.
It’s very disappointing to here that there is no current plan for a sequal to Megamind. This movie is very special, and really hit home to alot of people. It’s so rare to find a movie, animated or otherwise, that carries with it such intensely positive messages; for example the power of forgiveness and the changing power of love, along with so many others. This movie is insirational in so many ways to so many people!
I truly believe that a sequal would do amazingly well, as it’s fan base continues to rapidly grow and blossom by the day! Of coarse, provided there was better marketing than there was for the first film. In my case, I almost chose not to take my family to see it at all due to the rediculously poor marketing… I thought it looked stupid. I decided to take my kids to see it on Thanksgiving weekend for lack of anything better to do, and discovered what a truly fantastic movie it was! I loved it so much that I saw it again in theaters with my husband, and it is now my favorite movie of all time! Every time I watch it I love it more, it never gets old!
Please consider changing your minds, and going forward with plans to bring us a sequal to this movie treasure. There are so many possibilities for amazing storylines to continue this franchise, and countless devoted fans out here eagerly anticipating MEGAMIND 2. Please don’t leave us disappointed and heart broken!
I forgot to mention that MEGAMIND tops Shrek, Panda, even How To Train Your Dragon. It’s by FAR the best film Dreamworks has ever done! Please PLEASE make us a sequal!