Amblin Partners
American entertainment company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Storyteller Distribution Co., LLC, doing business as Amblin Partners, LLC., is an American independent entertainment production company founded on December 16, 2015. It developed and produced films under the Amblin Entertainment and DreamWorks Pictures banners, as well as television series through Amblin Television.
Logo used since 2015 | |
| Amblin Partners, LLC. | |
| Company type | Joint venture |
| Industry | Entertainment |
| Predecessor | DreamWorks SKG |
| Founded | December 16, 2015 |
| Founders | |
| Headquarters | Universal City, California , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
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| Products |
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| Owners | |
| Divisions | |
| Website | amblin |
The company's investment partners included Reliance Group's Reliance Entertainment, Lionsgate Studios, Alibaba Group's Alibaba Pictures, and NBCUniversal/Comcast's Universal Pictures.[3] Films produced by Amblin Partners were primarily distributed by either Universal or its specialty label Focus Features in North America and select international territories, and by third-party distributors through Mister Smith Entertainment in other countries.[4][5]
History
Amblin Partners, LLC. was founded by Steven Spielberg, Jeff Skoll of Participant Media, Anil Ambani of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, and Darren Throop of Entertainment One on December 16, 2015. The company primarily would focus on producing and distributing films and television using the DreamWorks Pictures, Amblin Entertainment, and Participant Media brands.[6] For films, it uses the original live-action DreamWorks label for mature content, the Amblin label for family-friendly content (with the exception of Maestro, which is rated R), and the Participant label for social justice content, although Participant remained as a separate company.[7]
On the same day as the company's formation, Amblin Partners announced that it entered into a five-year distribution deal with Universal Pictures by which the films would be distributed and marketed by either the main Universal banner or its specialty label, Focus Features.[4][8] The Girl on the Train was the first film released under the deal.[9] Mister Smith Entertainment, which began its international distribution deal with DreamWorks in August 2012,[10] continued to handle distribution sales for Amblin Partners in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.[5]
On October 9, 2016, Amblin Partners struck a deal with China's Alibaba Pictures, in which Alibaba acquired a minority equity stake in the company and would handle marketing, distribution support, and merchandising of Amblin Partners films in China in addition to co-financing Amblin Entertainment and DreamWorks Pictures films worldwide.[1][11] Although financial details were not shared during the formalization of the partnership, both parties agreed that they could co-produce movies for a global and Chinese audience and work together for marketing and merchandising.[12] The agreement included cross-media merchandising items like lunch boxes, bedspreads, and action figures that served as official tie-ins manufactured by Alibaba group subsidiaries like Tmall.com, ensuring the items adhered to brand integrity. [13] [14]On February 15, 2017, Comcast's Universal acquired a minority stake in Amblin Partners,[15] strengthening the relationship between Universal and Amblin,[2] and reuniting a minority percentage of the DreamWorks Pictures label with its former animation division, which Comcast acquired the year prior in 2016.
On December 18, 2017, Amblin Partners signed a music publishing deal with BMG Rights Management, covering music from its films and television series.[16]
Transfer of eOne's stake
On August 22, 2019, Hasbro announced that it would acquire Entertainment One for at least $4 billion. The acquisition was completed on December 30, 2019, resulting in the toy company inheriting Entertainment One's stake in Amblin Partners.[17]
On November 30, 2020, Amblin Partners renewed its distribution deal with Universal, which continued to be an equity stake holder.[18] That same month however, Participant terminated its equity stake in Amblin Partners, ending its relationship with the company.[18]
On June 21, 2021, Amblin Partners signed a multi-year deal to produce "multiple new feature films per year" for Netflix.[19]
On November 17, 2022, Hasbro announced that was selling part of Entertainment One's television and film business not directly supporting their Branded Entertainment strategy, which included their stake in Amblin Partners.[20][21] In March 2023, Deadline reported that Lionsgate (which Hasbro attempted to acquire in 2017), Fremantle, and Universal's former co-financing partner, Legendary Entertainment were among bidders for the assets of Entertainment One.[22] The following month, it was reported Lionsgate, Legendary, and GoDigital Media Group were among the potential buyers, with Fremantle dropping out of contention following an increase in the selling price, which was beyond what the company was willing to pay for the assets.[23] On April 20, 2023, it was reported that Hasbro was in talks with Throop, whose bid was backed by CVC Capital Partners, on the possibility of buying the company back.[24]
On July 11, 2023, Amblin Partners announced it entered a partnership with its distributor, Universal, where Universal will co-finance Amblin's productions, as Amblin announced it would lay off 20% of its staff.[25] In the same month Deadline reported that Lionsgate was a frontrunner to acquire Entertainment One, with Legendary and GoDigital still among the potential buyers and Throop attempting to launch another bid for the company after his previous attempt with CVC failed.[26]
On August 3, 2023, Lionsgate announced it would acquire Entertainment One from Hasbro for $500 million, with the transaction closed on December 27, 2023.[27]
Shutdown of Participant
On April 16, 2024, Participant ceased operations due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes.[28]
On July 11, 2025, Legendary is eyeing a deal to acquire Lionsgate, following the latter company’s recent separation from Starz.[29]
Film library
Released
| Title | Release date | Label | Other production companies | Distributor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The BFG | July 1, 2016 | Amblin Entertainment | Walt Disney Pictures, Walden Media and Reliance Entertainment | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures |
| The Light Between Oceans | September 2, 2016 | DreamWorks Pictures | Touchstone Pictures, Reliance Entertainment, Participant Media and Heyday Films | |
| The Girl on the Train | October 7, 2016 | Reliance Entertainment and Marc Platt Productions | Universal Pictures | |
| Office Christmas Party | December 9, 2016 | Reliance Entertainment, Entertainment 360 and Bluegrass Films | Paramount Pictures | |
| A Dog's Purpose | January 27, 2017 | Amblin Entertainment | Reliance Entertainment, Walden Media and Pariah Entertainment Group | Universal Pictures |
| Ghost in the Shell | March 31, 2017 | DreamWorks Pictures | Reliance Entertainment, Grosvenor Park Productions, Seaside Entertainment and Arad Productions | Paramount Pictures |
| Thank You for Your Service | October 27, 2017 | Reliance Entertainment and Rahway Road Productions | Universal Pictures[30] | |
| The Post | December 22, 2017 | Amblin Entertainment and DreamWorks Pictures | Reliance Entertainment, Pascal Pictures and Star Thrower Entertainment | 20th Century Fox[30] |
| 7 Days in Entebbe | March 16, 2018 | Participant Media | Working Title Films | Focus Features |
| The House with a Clock in Its Walls | September 21, 2018 | Amblin Entertainment | Reliance Entertainment and Mythology Entertainment | Universal Pictures |
| First Man | October 12, 2018 | DreamWorks Pictures | Temple Hill Entertainment, Phantasma Films, and Perfect World Pictures | |
| Green Book | November 16, 2018 | DreamWorks Pictures and Participant Media | Innisfree Pictures and Cinetic Media | |
| Welcome to Marwen | December 21, 2018 | DreamWorks Pictures | ImageMovers and Perfect World Pictures | |
| On the Basis of Sex | December 25, 2018 | Participant Media | Robert Cort Productions | Focus Features |
| Captive State | March 15, 2019 | Lightfuse & Gettaway | ||
| A Dog's Journey | May 17, 2019 | Amblin Entertainment | Reliance Entertainment, Walden Media and Pariah Entertainment Group | Universal Pictures |
| Dark Waters | November 22, 2019 | Participant | Killer Films | Focus Features |
| 1917 | December 25, 2019 | DreamWorks Pictures | Reliance Entertainment, New Republic Pictures, Neal Street Productions and Mogambo | Universal Pictures |
| The Turning | January 24, 2020 | Vertigo Entertainment, Reliance Entertainment[31] | ||
| Come Play | October 30, 2020 | Amblin Partners | The Picture Company and Reliance Entertainment | Focus Features[32] |
| Stillwater | July 30, 2021 | Participant and DreamWorks Pictures | Slow Pony, Anonymous Content, 3dot Productions and Supernatural Pictures | |
| Finch | November 5, 2021 | Amblin Entertainment | Reliance Entertainment, ImageMovers, Misher Films and Walden Media | Apple TV+ |
| Easter Sunday | August 5, 2022 | DreamWorks Pictures | Reliance Entertainment, Rideback | Universal Pictures |
| The Good House | September 30, 2022 | Participant and DreamWorks Pictures | Roadside Attractions, Faliro House, Reliance Entertainment and FilmNation Entertainment | Lionsgate |
| The Fabelmans | November 11, 2022 | Amblin Entertainment | Reliance Entertainment | Universal Pictures |
| The Last Voyage of the Demeter | August 11, 2023 | DreamWorks Pictures | Reliance Entertainment, Storyworks Productions, Studio Babelsberg, Phoenix Pictures and Wise Owl Media[33] | |
| Carry-On | December 13, 2024 | Dylan Clark Productions | Netflix | |
| Long Distance[34] | July 3, 2025 | Reliance Entertainment and Automatik Entertainment | Universal Pictures |
Upcoming
| Title | Release date | Label | Other production companies | Film distributor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| You Should Be Dancing | TBA[35][36] | Amblin Entertainment | Scott Free Productions, GK Films and Sister Films | Paramount Pictures |
In development
| Title | Label | Other production companies | Film distributor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arachnophobia[37] | TBA | Atomic Monster | TBA |
| Apeirogon[38] | TBA | ||
| American Reaper[39] | Intrepid Pictures | ||
| Assassins Anonymous[40] | TBA | ||
| Beautiful Ruins[41] | Neal Street Productions | ||
| Carrier[42] | Automatik Entertainment and QCode | ||
| Cheshire Crossing[43] | Michael De Luca Productions | ||
| Confessions in B-Flat[44] | Orit Entertainment and Marcy Place Productions | ||
| Homecoming Queen[45] | TBA | ||
| James[46] | Universal Pictures | ||
| Long Lost[47] | Genre Pictures and Ground Control Entertainment | ||
| Miss Macy[48] | TBA | TBA | |
| Super in Love[49] | |||
| Stage 13[50] | |||
| The Act[51] | |||
| The Bear[52] | Marc Platt Productions | ||
| The Exchange[53] | Escape Artists | ||
| The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August[54] | Blueprint Pictures and OddBall Entertainment | ||
| The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara[55] | DreamWorks Pictures | The Kennedy/Marshall Company[56] | Universal Pictures |
| The Light of Days[57] | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| The Richest Black Girl in America[58] | |||
| The Switch[59] | |||
| Untitled Jutta Kleinschmidt biopic[60] | 87North Productions and Devonsheer Media | TBA | |
| Untitled true-life show choir film[61] | Safehouse Pictures | ||
| Upgrade[62] | TBA | ||