Big Entertainment, DreamWorks deal on hold?
Bhavana Puljal - Televisionpoint.com | Mumbai
In his poem, The Ballad of East and West, written back in 1892, Rudyard Kipling said, "East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet." Over a century later, Hollywood and Bollywood appear determined to prove him wrong with the recent $ 600 million 'proposed deal' between Anil Ambani's Reliance Big Entertainment and Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks SKG.
However, Kipling maybe right to some extent, with media reports suggesting that Big Entertainment's much hyped preposition with Dreamworks is on hold. It is learnt that Anil Ambani, who was a few steps away from materialising the big dream of roping in Hollywood stars in Bollywood industry, is in no mood to do anything in hush-hush.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source from Reliance Big Entertainment, informs Televisionpoint.com, that "The deal is on hold as of now, and the negotiations regarding the investment are being re-calculated. There is a major credit crisis the domestic and international markets, and investing such a huge amount in the present market scenario is very risky."
Big Entertainment had announced big investment plans in a number of Hollywood projects during the Cannes Film Festival in May this year. The company had provided a glimpse of the future with production deals with Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Tom Hanks, Jim Carrey and Nicholas Cage.
Reliance has been making forays into the entertainment industry in a big way ever since it acquired Adlabs Films in 2005. The new venture with Spielberg is part of the group's global ambitions to hold stakes in each segment of the movie business, from film production to screening of movies.
DreamWorks Studios has been responsible for some of the most honoured films in recent years, including three consecutive Best Picture Academy Award winners: American Beauty, Gladiator, and A Beautiful Mind, the latter two co-productions with Universal.
According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report on the US entertainment industry, revenue from the US movie business is up just 3 per cent a year over the past three years. In contrast, a corresponding PwC report on the Indian media and entertainment industry says that India's film revenue has gone up 17 per cent every year over the same period.
In his poem, The Ballad of East and West, written back in 1892, Rudyard Kipling said, "East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet." Over a century later, Hollywood and Bollywood appear determined to prove him wrong with the recent $ 600 million 'proposed deal' between Anil Ambani's Reliance Big Entertainment and Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks SKG.
However, Kipling maybe right to some extent, with media reports suggesting that Big Entertainment's much hyped preposition with Dreamworks is on hold. It is learnt that Anil Ambani, who was a few steps away from materialising the big dream of roping in Hollywood stars in Bollywood industry, is in no mood to do anything in hush-hush.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source from Reliance Big Entertainment, informs Televisionpoint.com, that "The deal is on hold as of now, and the negotiations regarding the investment are being re-calculated. There is a major credit crisis the domestic and international markets, and investing such a huge amount in the present market scenario is very risky."
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Steven Spielberg, Stacey Snider & Anil Ambani in Los Angeles |
Reliance has been making forays into the entertainment industry in a big way ever since it acquired Adlabs Films in 2005. The new venture with Spielberg is part of the group's global ambitions to hold stakes in each segment of the movie business, from film production to screening of movies.
DreamWorks Studios has been responsible for some of the most honoured films in recent years, including three consecutive Best Picture Academy Award winners: American Beauty, Gladiator, and A Beautiful Mind, the latter two co-productions with Universal.
According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report on the US entertainment industry, revenue from the US movie business is up just 3 per cent a year over the past three years. In contrast, a corresponding PwC report on the Indian media and entertainment industry says that India's film revenue has gone up 17 per cent every year over the same period.
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