DreamWorks Announces a Change in Production Schedule

DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc., announced plans to increase production, Thursday. The strategy calls for the studio to begin releasing five feature films every two years, which means it will add a movie every other year to its current two-picture-a-year release schedule, United Press International reports.

According to Animation Magazine, through 2012, DreamWorks will release eight animated feature films, a mix of original films, sequels and spin-offs.

Next year, the studio will release three feature films: How to Train Your Dragon, based on the book by Cressida Cowell; Shrek Forever After, the fourth feature in the "Shrek" series; and Oobermind, an original film starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Tina Fey.

In 2011, the studio will release two features: Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom and The Guardians, based on an upcoming book series.

For 2012, DreamWorks will bring about a spin-off to the "Shrek" series, Puss in Boots. Two months later, the studio will release the third installment in the "Madagascar" series. The eighth film in this stretch, set for release on Nov. 12, 2012, will be chosen from three projects currently in development.

According to the Los Angeles Times, while most studios are shooting fewer movies due to the flailing economy, DreamWorks has chosen to move in the opposite direction, drawing attention to improved production capabilities and consistent success to assuage concerns among investors.

The studio's computer-animated films take about $160 million and 4½ years to make, but DreamWorks Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg predicted that the increased output will lower average production costs by up to 10 percent by 2011, the Los Angeles Times reports.