Although its latest release Madagascar 3 has earned over $209.8 million domestically and $501.2 million worldwide (as of July 30) DreamWorks Animation reported a profit of $12.8 million, compared with $34.1 million in the year-ago period, below Wall Street estimates. The studio’s revenue dropped 25 percent from $218.3 million to $162.8 million.
“DreamWorks Animation’s second quarter of 2012 was driven primarily by the box-office performance of Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, the seventh-highest-grossing film of the year,” said studio CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg. “The third and biggest film in our blockbuster Madagascar franchise has surpassed $500 million at the worldwide box office to date, with a large number of key international territories yet to come.”
The movie contributed about $54.8 million of revenue to the latest quarter, while the home entertainment success of Puss in Boots contributed $22.8 million. The Oscar-nominated film reached an estimated 5.2 million home entertainment units sold worldwide through the end of the second quarter. The studio’s other 2011 release Kung Fu Panda 2 also fared well, thanks to domestic pay TV revenues, with an estimated $46.4 million revenue.
After acquiring Classic Media a couple of weeks ago, DreamWorks is now focusing on finding a domestic distributing partner. The company’s relationship with Paramount will expire at the end of 2012.
