Low-budget knockoff movies benefit from Hollywood blockbusters

European regulators dropped Friday a probe into deals done by major Hollywood film studios that it feared would stifle access to digital screens for low-budget European movies."I am pleased that Hollywood studios considered our legitimate concerns and modified the contracts so that cinema-goers can watch both Hollywood blockbusters but also small budget and art-house films with the latest state-of-the-art technology," said Joaquin Almunia, European Union competition commissioner.

When DreamWorks Animation released "Rise of the Guardians" last year, the studio took a gamble on a $145 million film about holiday mascots.

ByBuffett Junior: Company Profile

Net income at DreamWorks Animation fails to meet forecasts and is sharply lower than in the same quarter in 2010.

Dreamworks Animation posted better-than-expected Q1 results, thanks to continued strong performance of the movie Puss In Boots. The company noted that Puss has grossed $554 million worldwide box office to date, $73.6 million of that in the latest quarter. For the quarter, the??company??reported revenue of $136.1 million and profits of 11 cents a share, ahead ...

The creator of the 'Shrek' movies says it is forming Oriental DreamWorks, a joint venture with two state-owned Chinese media companies.DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc.announced plans to build a studio in Shanghai in what the Glendale company billed as a landmark agreement with two state-owned Chinese media companies.

DreamWorks Animation has become the second Hollywood studio to enter into a distribution agreement with China's top online video site, Youku.com. Youku said Monday that it had signed a deal with the Glendale-based animation studio to distribute the "Kung Fu Panda" movies in China, marking the first time that DreamWorks releases have been made available in that country through the Internet.