NEW DELHI — Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group is in talks with Universal Studios to build a $1.5 billion theme park and resort in India, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

When contacted a R-ADAG spokesperson declined to comment on reports of the company entering into a joint venture with Universal Studios.

Okay, first things first – what is up with all this licensing? I understand the need to expand to a worldwide market, but they should choose their markets carefully. It seems like they’re willing to sell their trademark to anyone who’s willing to foot the bill. The full presser after the break.

continue reading "Universal Studios India?"

See how Universal Studios Hollywood recreated sets lost from the infamous backlot fire on June 1, 2008.

On June 1, 2008, a three alarm fire broke out at Universal Studios Hollywood, destroying New York Street, the King Kong theme park attraction and a video vault. In response, the entertainment community rallied together and assembled a world-renowned creative team to rebuild what had been lost. Jim Watters, President & General Manager of NBC Universal Operations Group, and Dave Beanes, Senior Vice-President of NBC Universal Production Services were joined by esteemed film legend Steven Spielberg, production designers, and Rick Carter (Academy Award winner for Avatar) to be a part of the design process. The team quickly expanded to a list of twenty-five award-winning production designers and graphic artists that collaborated, designed and rebuilt the legendary Hollywood fixture.

The finished product, which will be completed on June 30 and includes a New York block with a glass and steel look, Paris Square, London Square and Central Park, will usher in a new era for the Universal Studio Hollywood Studio Tour. The upgraded Studio Tour has been upgraded with high-definition TV monitors in each tram car, new video content and high-grade digital audio systems and will provide guests with a more in-depth behind-the-scenes look at the film and television industry than ever before.

As for King Kong, the attraction was moved to expand the location and provide additional production parking. The new King Kong 360-3D attraction created by award-winning director Peter Jackson will open this summer and will be the world’s largest and most intense 3D interactive theme park experience!

From the Orlando Sentinel -

The parent company of Universal Orlando and Universal Studios Hollywood says attendance at the two resorts dipped slightly during the first three months of the year. But the customers who did show up spent more money.

“We had slightly lower attendance overall in the two parks. But that was mostly offset by higher per-capita spending,” General Electric Co. Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer Keith Sherin told analysts during a conference call Friday to discuss GE’s first quarter earnings.

The quarter was highlighted by the successful opening of Universal Studios Singapore, Sherin said. It is the second overseas theme park operated by Universal Parks & Resorts, along with Universal Studios Japan.

GE provided few other details about the performance of its parks, which are a tiny sliver of the industrial conglomerate’s overall holdings. But when the parks were combined with the Universal Pictures movie studio — parks and film are two of the smallest divisions at GE-owned NBC Universal — GE said total revenues were up 14 percent from a year ago and profit was flat.

GE is in the process of selling a controlling stake in NBC Universal to cable giant Comcast Corp. in a deal currently being reviewed by federal regulators. NBC Universal co-owns Universal Orlando with private-equity firm The Blackstone Group.

From Reuters -

By Jui Chakravorty and Anupreeta Das

NEW YORK (Reuters) – General Electric Co and Vivendi SA have agreed in principle to a deal in which GE would buy the French company’s 20 percent stake in NBC Universal for $5.8 billion, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday, paving the way for Comcast Corp’s proposed joint venture with GE.

The agreement is mainly the result of a meeting between GE Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt and Vivendi’s CEO Jean-Bernard Levy in Paris last week, where the two parties made progress on the talks that had been going on for weeks, the source said.

GE and Comcast declined to comment. A Vivendi spokeswoman did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Vivendi had originally valued its 20 percent stake in NBC Universal, acquired in 2004, at $6.1 billion, sources told Reuters earlier this month. But the two sides differed on that valuation, slowly narrowing their gap over the past few weeks. GE, which owns the remaining 80 percent, had offered around $5.6 billion about 10 days ago, a source had said then.

The two sides also have differed on when Vivendi would get paid: Vivendi initially wanted the entire payment upfront, while GE wanted to pay after its deal with Comcast closed. On November 20, a source familiar with the negotiations told Reuters that Vivendi had agreed to accept payment for one-third of its stake until the deal with Comcast closes.

The negotiations between Vivendi and GE have been holding up Comcast’s plan to form a joint venture with GE by buying a controlling stake in NBC Universal, in what would be the biggest media deal this year. The two sides have valued NBC Universal at about $30 billion.

As part of that proposed deal, NBC Universal would become 51 percent owned by Comcast and 49 percent by GE. Comcast would contribute around $4 billion to $6 billion in cash, as well as its collection of cable networks to pay for its stake.

But for that deal to happen, GE has to buy out Vivendi’s stake first. With the tentative agreement between GE and Vivendi, an announcement on the Comcast-GE deal could come in the next few days, two sources familiar with the matter said.

BIGGEST MEDIA DEAL

Under the terms of the proposed deal, the new company is expected to be able generate cash to pay down $9 billion in debt that would be added to its books as part of the agreement. It would use that debt to buy the rest of the company from GE.

GE has negotiated a redemption option that would give it the right to redeem all or part of its stake in the new company in exchange for cash at the 3-1/2-year mark and at a 7-year mark, sources have said.

Comcast has long wanted to buy media assets to create a content powerhouse spanning broadcast TV, cable and film. Chief Executive Brian Roberts said last month he would look at all opportunities in content.

Many of GE’s shareholders have urged the conglomerate to offload NBC Universal, whose broadcast and cable networks, movie studio and theme parks are considered misfits among GE’s mostly industrial operations.

(Reporting by Jui Chakravorty; Additional reporting by Anupreeta Das; Editing by Richard Chang and Carol Bishopric)