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Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks will reportedly end deal with Disney

DreamWorks Studios, which was co-founded by Spielberg, is reportedly looking for a new company to distribute its films. DreamWorks has released such recent successes as 'Lincoln' and 'The Help.'

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Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Steven Spielberg appears at the Museum of Natural History before the Ambassadors For Humanity Gala in New York.

Steven Spielberg鈥檚 DreamWorks Studios is reportedly parting ways with Disney.聽

The two companies had a deal in which Disney distributed DreamWorks pictues, but a 2016 film adaptation of Roald Dahl鈥檚 book 鈥淭he BFG,鈥 directed by Spielberg, will be the final movie distributed under the current strategy.聽

The most likely studio to take over Disney's distribution role is reportedly Universal, where DreamWorks had its home until 2005.

Spielberg founded DreamWorks with former Walt Disney Studios chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen, who produced such films as the 1980s movie version of the musical 鈥淟ittle Shop of Horrors.鈥 聽DreamWorks Animation is currently run as a separate venture. DreamWorks Animation is a rival to Disney, releasing such animated hits as the 鈥淗ow to Train Your Dragon鈥 and 鈥淜ung Fu Panda鈥 film series.聽

Spielberg鈥檚 new movie 鈥淏ridge of Spies,鈥 which stars Tom Hanks and tells the story of a lawyer who becomes involved in the Cold War, is set to be released this October. Recent DreamWorks Studios productions include the recent Spielberg hits 鈥淟incoln" and 鈥淲ar Horse鈥 as well as the movie 鈥淭he Help,鈥 though it鈥檚 also had misfires like 鈥淒elivery Man鈥 and the movie 鈥淣eed for Speed.鈥澛

While the public of course doesn鈥檛 know the details of why DreamWorks and Disney are ending their deal, the move is interesting in the wake of Spielberg鈥檚 comments about superhero movies. Disney recently purchased Marvel Entertainment, which has released some of the biggest superhero movie hits of the last decades like 鈥淭he Avengers鈥 and 鈥淕uardians of the Galaxy鈥 and is currently the superhero film entity to beat.

Spielberg recently of superhero films, 鈥淲e were around when the Western died and there will be a time when the superhero movie goes the way of the Western. It doesn't mean there won't be another occasion where the Western comes back and the superhero movie someday returns. Of course, right now the superhero movie is alive and thriving. I'm only saying that these cycles have a finite time in popular culture. There will come a day when the mythological stories are supplanted by some other genre that possibly some young filmmaker is just thinking about discovering for all of us.鈥澛

Will others in the industry heed Spielberg鈥檚 words? A comic book movie has been in the top five domestically highest-grossing films of the year since 2012 and right now, studios are betting big on superheroes. Marvel is planning two movies for 2016, three for 2017, and three for 2018. Warner Bros. is planning two for 2016, two for 2017, and two for 2018.聽

As for the Western, we actually have one this year 鈥 Quentin Tarantino鈥檚 film 鈥淭he Hateful Eight,鈥 which takes place in Wyoming after the Civil War, is coming out at the end of this year and the genre has seen such recent successes as 2007鈥檚 鈥3:10 to Yuma鈥 and 2010鈥檚 鈥淭rue Grit.鈥

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