The home video and pay TV performance of Madagascar helped drive second-quarter revenues for DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. The company reports total revenue of $74.9 million and net income of $13.7 million, compared to revenue of $35.4 million and a net loss of $3.7 million for the same period last year. The period left the toon unit with $526.9 million in cash and cash equivalents.
DreamWorks Animation’s CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg comments, “Last summer, Madagascar was our most successful theatrical release to date for an original film and has been one of the top selling domestic home video titles over the past eight months. With its sequel slotted for the fall of 2008, we have been pleased with the success of our next potential franchise.”
Since releasing the film on home video in the fourth quarter of 2005, DreamWorks has sold around 19 million copies of Madagascar. During the second quarter of 2006, the title, contributed approximately $37.9 million in revenue. In addition, the recent theatrical release of Over the Hedge has generated approximately $153 million at the North American box office, placing it among the top seven domestic releases of 2006. However, Hedge has only contributed a total of $10.7 million in revenue since films generally are still recouping marketing and distribution costs during the quarter of their release.
An additional $9.6 in revenues came from international pay television distribution of 2004’s Shark Tale, while Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit kickd in around $3.4 million from home video, where it has shipped an estimated 4.4 million units. Library and other films accounted for approximately $13.3 million of revenue, though approximately $7.0 million in costs associated with Shrek 2 remains un-recouped.
With no theatrical or home video releases scheduled for the third quarter, DreamWorks Animation doesn’t expect to record significant profits in its next report. Third-quarter performance will be driven mainly by the theatrical performance of Over the Hedge, which will not see significant returns until it is released in home video on Oct. 17. Flushed Away, DreamWorks’ third collaboration with Aardman Animations following Chicken Run and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, opens domestically on Nov. 3.
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