Comcast is reportedly in talks to buy DreamWorks Animation
According to the Wall Street Journal, the price could be over $3 billion.
In the past Dreamworks Animation has been mentioned as a possible purchase for companies including Fox, Hasbro and Softbank, but now reports say it's in talks with Comcast. The Wall Street Journal first reported the discussions, claiming Dreamworks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg is courting an offer from the cable behemoth of over $3 billion. The live action arm of Dreamworks, now renamed Amblin Studios, is distributed by Comcast's Universal Pictures which could bring the two back together in a way after the animation arm spun off on its own in 2004. Also, as The Hollywood Reporter mentions, Universal is already home to Illumination Entertainment, which created Despicable Me and Minions, and sees the two as a competitor to Disney/Pixar.
Other considerations include DreamWorks Animation's ongoing deal with Netflix to create thousands of hours of programming, and the internet video studio AwesomenessTV, which Verizon (owner of Engadget's parent company AOL) recently bought a stake in. Considering the deals that weren't over the past few years, this deal is still far from certain, but we'll see if Comcast succeeds in adding another large entertainment piece to its stable.
