Weeks ago, it was reported that Dreamworks Animation will be shaving 500 jobs from its ranks. This is said to be part of CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg's efforts to "turn the company's projects and profit margins around after a string of disappointments at the box office," Variety said.
"The company will now also cut back its feature film output from three to two movies a year, with plans to release a sequel and an original title in 2016, 2017 and 2018," the entertainment news source added.
As a consequence of this business decision, "How to Train Your Dragon 3" has been yet again moved back another year and will be released June 29, 2018, according to Fansided. The film was originally set to be released 2016, but was later moved to a 2017 release date.
"The number one priority for DreamWorks Animation's core film business is to deliver consistent creative and financial success," the studio's CEO was quoted by the site as saying. "I am confident that this strategic plan will deliver great films, better box office results, and growing profitability across our complementary businesses."
Quality over quantity - that's the gist of Katzenberg's statement.
As such, in the next three years, the following films will be released, as noted by Variety: "Kung Fu Panda 3″ (March 18, 2016), "Trolls" (Nov. 4, 2016), "Boss Baby" (Jan. 13, 2017), "The Croods 2″ (Dec. 22, 2017), "Larrikins" (Feb. 16, 2018) and "How to Train Your Dragon 3."
It's been reported that the failure of features like "Mr. Peabody and Sherman" ($57 million deficit) and "Rise of the Guardians" (lost $83 million) had prompted the CEO to adopt a new business strategy, ScreenRant observed.
On the other hand, The Hollywood Reporter said that the "layoffs come amid poor financial performance and a restructuring."
"In the first three quarters of 2014, the company posted a 10 percent decline in revenue to $450.4 million and a net loss of $46.4 million compared with a profit of $37.9 million a year prior," the news source said. "The studio's hard times of late have also affected its stock price, with shares of DreamWorks Animation falling 36 percent in the past 12 months."
With that, it's logical that Katzenberg focus on making hits for the survival of the studio, which is also said to be following Pixar's tried-and-tested move in order to prevail in the industry. The Disney company managed to survive 18 years and retain its reputation as "one of the biggest animation powerhouses in the industry" even though it had only released 14 films since their inception, Fansided pointed out.
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