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  3. Lately DreamWorks SKG has been a wandering tribe. The would-be studio, which

Lately DreamWorks SKG has been a wandering tribe. The would-be studio, which

游客2023-12-07  24
问题     Lately DreamWorks SKG has been a wandering tribe. The would-be studio, which made films such as American Beauty and War of the Worlds, sold itself to Paramount in 2005. When that arrangement fell apart it found new partners in Reliance Big Entertainment, a Hollywood outfit, and Universal Studios. Then it fell out with Universal. So it was rather a surprise when, on February 9th,DreamWorks abruptly found itself in the promised land. Disney, the world’s foremost purveyor of wholesome entertainment, lent it money and agreed to market and distribute its films.
    It is a good illustration of how the economic downturn is affecting Hollywood. Until recently executives were boasting that the film business was resistant, perhaps even immune, to recession. The number of cinema tickets sold actually increased during three out of the past four recessions. Box-office receipts so far this year are higher than last year. Admittedly, the share prices of media companies have tumbled—but that is because of the collapse in television and print advertising, and has little to do with Tinseltown.
    Yet the downturn has profoundly affected the art of deal-making. Although the breakdown of negotiations between DreamWorks and Universal has been followed by a storm of recriminations, the heart of the problem was that DreamWorks was finding it unexpectedly hard to raise debt. It is hardly alone in that. Two years ago investors were lubricating all sorts of strange alliances and start-ups—Tom Cruise wants to resurrect United Artists? Why not? But now the outside money has all but disappeared. The big studios, the primacy of which was never exactly threatened during the boom years, are now almost the only game in town.
    The alliance with DreamWorks is something of an about-turn for Disney. Under Bob Iger, who took over as chief executive in 2005, Disney has culled films that are a less than perfect fit for its family-friendly brand and has concentrated on turning those that are into amusement-park rides, lunch boxes and other spin-offs. This week’s deal will add as many as six films a year to Disney’s pipeline, swelling it by about half. The surge will not happen at once, however: DreamWorks will have to raise more money before it is capable of producing that many.
    These days DreamWorks is largely Steven Spielberg’s outfit. Jeffrey Katzenberg(the "K" in SKG)runs DreamWorks Animation, a separate, publicly owned company. David Geffen(the "G")has retired from the studio. The remaining founder spoke warmly of Disney this week, calling it the "birthplace of imagination". He is said to be looking forward to making more family films. Perhaps ,but he still looks a little out of place in the magic kingdom.
    Mr. Spielberg became America’s best-known, and perhaps best, film director by fusing blockbuster spectacle with an unflinching take on family life. The households even in his PG-rated films are almost uniformly dysfunctional. Think of Richard Dreyfuss flinging plants through the window in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Frances O’Connor abandoning her adopted robot son by the roadside in A. I. or the defeated, self-deluding Christopher Walken in Catch Me If You Can. It is hard to imagine any of them donning Mickey Mouse ears. [br] The opening paragraph is trying to convey that
选项 A、it is always easy for DreamWorks to find desirable partners.
B、DreamWorks is broke and needs money from Disney.
C、Disney choose DreamWorks because the latter makes films.
D、the partnership between DreamWorks and Disney is unexpected.
答案 D
解析 细节题。文章开篇指出梦工厂近年来几经漂泊，几个合作均告破裂，最后竟然出人意料地与迪士尼达成了合作，可以说是逆境中的好运，首段倒数第二句中的“rather a surprise”“abruptly found itself in thepromised land”也很好地说明了这一点，故[D]“梦工厂与迪士尼的合作是出人意料的”为答案。
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