DreamWorks II Distribution Co. LLC

DreamWorks II Distribution Co. LLC
General information
Type	In-name-only copyright holder
Industry	Motion Pictures
Founded	2009
Fate	Trademark acquired by Disney
Headquarters	Universal City, California, United States
Parent	DreamWorks Pictures/Reliance Entertainment (2011-2015) The Walt Disney Studios (2015-present)

DreamWorks II Distribution Co. LLC is the copyright holder for a selection of films produced by the film company DreamWorks Pictures that had been distributed by The Walt Disney Studios under the Touchstone Pictures banner from 2011-2016.

After the deal between Disney and DreamWorks expired, The Walt Disney Company fully acquired the DreamWorks II copyright and the ownership to the films produced under the deal.

History

In October 2008, DreamWorks Pictures announced they had cut ties with its parent company Viacom and reformed under the name DW Studios (DreamWorks Studios) and signed a deal with the Indian-based Reliance BIG Entertainment to produce live-action films. On February 9, 2009, DreamWorks Pictures signed a five-year distribution deal with The Walt Disney Studios to distribute its films under the Touchstone Pictures banner beginning in 2010. The deal would consist of a yearly slate of six films which Disney would distribute on all formats worldwide (including home media and television) except in India, where distribution would be handled by Reliance. The deal was made after an agreement with DreamWorks' longtime partner Universal Pictures fell through. Despite that, DreamWorks would remain headquartered at Universal's lot.

The first selection of DreamWorks Pictures films under Touchstone were released in 2011, however a majority of them flopped at the box-office and left DreamWorks in severe fiancial woes. In 2012, DreamWorks had to ensue additional an additional $200 million funding from Reliance, scaled back their films from 6 a year to 3-5 films a year, and signed a deal with 20th Century Fox to co-finance two of their big-budget films. In August, DreamWorks announced that that Disney would no longer fully distribute their films globally after signing a deal with Mister Smith Entertainment to handle international sales to DreamWorks' films in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, while Disney would continue to release the films in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Australia, and most of Asia. The Mister Smith deal began with the release of The Fifth Estate.

On September 2, 2015, DreamWorks Pictures and Disney announced that they would not renew their distribution deal which would end in 2016 after the release of The Light Between Oceans. Disney retained distribution rights to all films released during the agreement and fully acquired the DreamWorks II Distribution Co. LLC venture in December. On December 16, DreamWorks Pictures became part of the newly-formed Amblin Partners as its mature film label and assured Universal Pictures as their distributor, with their films now under the copyright holder of Storyteller Distribution Co. LLC.

Films

• I Am Number Four (2011)
• The Help (2011)
• Fright Night (2011)
• Real Steel (2011)
• War Horse (2011)
• People Like Us (2012)
• Lincoln (2012)
• The Fifth Estate (2013)
• Delivery Man (2013)
• Need for Speed (2014)
• The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014)
• Bridge of Spies (2015)
• The BFG (2016, produced under Amblin Entertainment, and released under Disney banner)
• The Light Between Oceans (2016, under "Storyteller Distribution Co. LLC" copyright)