CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg is Out as NBCUniversal Expects Chris Meledandri to Take a Key Creative Role

Comcast has purchased DreamWorks Animation in a deal valued at approximately $3.8 billion. DreamWorks Animation now becomes part of division NBCUniversal's Universal Filmed Entertainment Group.

DreamWorks CEO and co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg will become chairman of DreamWorks New Media — basically online media creator AwesomenessTV and 3D visualization unit Nova — but is essentially out of the picture at the animation studio, where he will serve only as a "consultant to NBCUniversal," according to a Comcast press release. Illumination Entertainment founder Chris Meledandri, the impresario behind Despicable Me, is expected to take a leadership role.

"We have enjoyed extraordinary success over the last six years in animation with the emergence of Illumination Entertainment and its brilliant team at Illumination Mac Guff studio," said NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke in a prepared statement. "We are fortunate to have Illumination founder Chris Meledandri to help guide the growth of the DreamWorks Animation business in the future."

The deal puts NBCUniversal in a better position to compete with arch-rival Disney/Pixar, with new franchises including Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon now under the corporate umbrella. Additionally, DreamWorks Animation's 2012 acquisition of Classic Media earned it rights to Casper the Friendly Ghost, Lassie, Fat Albert, and more — characters who now become part of the NBCUniversal stable.

In fact, the news seems rather ominous for those employed by DreamWorks Animation, as the word is Comcast is more interested in repurposing the company's IP library than in continuing its operations as an animation studio. Citing unnamed "knowledgeable people," The Wall Street Journal reported that Meldandri will decide what happens to DreamWorks' production capabilities, and that layoffs in production and adminstration are "likely." And the Los Angeles Times noted that internationally known characters like Kung Fu Panda and Shrek could help boost the prospects of an ambitious 300-acre theme park that Comcast plans to open in 2019 in China, along with other plans for expansion into the Chinese market.