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DreamWorks Animation May Push ‘B.O.O.’ Release Date

Directed by Tom Wheeler and featuring the voices of Bill Murray and Melissa McCarthy, ‘B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations’ was set to debut on June 5, 2015.

DreamWorks Animation may have plans to push back the release date for B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations, according to a report by the Los Angeles Times.

Directed by Tom Wheeler and featuring the voices of Matt Bomer, Bill Murray, Melissa McCarthy, Rashida Jones, Seth Rogen and Octavia Spencer, B.O.O. was set to debut on June 5, 2015. Also set on the studio’s release schedule for next year is Home, voiced by Jim Parson, Rihanna and Jennifer Lopez, which opens March 27, and Kung Fu Panda 3, which releases December 23, 2015.

DreamWorks Animation has taken write-downs on three films in the last two years, although the studio's latest movie, How to Train Your Dragon 2, has done well at the box office, and its next animated spinoff, Penguins of Madagascar, is expected to do solid business as well.

DWA executives are reportedly weighing various alternative dates, including releasing the movie in fall 2015 or in spring 2016. DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg is said to be unhappy with the progress of the film, while the studio faces a very competitive landscape next summer when Pixar releases Inside Out in June.

"Animated features are our most valuable asset and we regularly evaluate how to maximize their value, including determining the most opportune time to release a film," the studio said in a statement, but did not otherwise comment on plans for B.O.O.

The B.O.O. bump comes just as merger talks between DWA and Hasbro have ended, and a little over a week before the November 26 opening of Penguins of Madagascar.

Two weeks ago, Janney Capital Markets’ analyst Tony Wible downgraded DWA stock to “neutral,” according to a report by Deadline, despite beating Wall Street expectations for the third quarter. Wible said the company “faces a rough 2015 and now needs to cope with higher cost, a delay in sales, a slower ramp of TV margin, and lingering impairment risk.”

Jennifer Wolfe's picture

Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.