(Source: www.variety.com)
It's official: the DreamWorks/Aardman collaboration is done.
DreamWorks Animation (purveyors of the Shrek and Madagascar franchises) has announced that it will no longer distribute Aardman (best known for the award-winning Wallace and Gromit series) Animation's films.
The American/British alliance, which started so profitably with 2000's Chicken Run, ran into problems with their next project, Wallace and Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit.
That movie took five years to make, and DreamWorks demanded that Aardman replace Wallace actor Peter Sallis, who had voiced the beloved character since 1989. Aardman refused to do so, but compromised by casting well-known British actors like Helena Bonham Carter (Corpse Bride) and Ralph Fiennes (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix). DreamWorks was also disappointed with Were-Rabbit's $56 million North American take, despite the fact that the movie won the 2005 Oscar for Best Animated Movie.
Things got worse with their latest collaboration, Flushed Away, including script and filming battles and Aardman's inexperience with CG technology. That film reportedly cost $145 million to make, and has only made $39 million at the box office. Flushed Away has only been in North American theatres for two weeks, and hasn't yet opened in several critical markets including the U.K. and France.
DreamWorks is now attempting to "write down" some of the costs of making the film. In its application to the Securities & Exchange Commission, the studio "is currently unable to predict the ultimate amount of the writedown, which could be material." Analysts believe that number could be anywhere from $45 to $90 million.
The good news is that Flushed Away appears to have "legs" (hanging onto most of its audience in its second week in theatres), so it's possible that it will recoup $80 or $90 million in its time in theatres. However, that's not good enough for DreamWorks, which will concentrate on its in-house movies, such as Madagascar 2, Shrek the Third, and Kung Fu Panda (with Jack Black and Angelina Jolie).
Aardman is now seeking a North American distributor for its next animated film, the John Cleese-penned caveman comedy Crood Awakening.
