Report: DreamWorks ends talks with Universal

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- DreamWorks SKG, the movie studio co-founded by director Steven Spielberg, has terminated talks about its sale to General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal unit, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

The newspaper said the move ends for now any discussions of a potential $1 billion Hollywood deal.

"We pursued it for quite some time. We were unable to come to terms and we're no longer in discussions with them," David Geffen, another DreamWorks founder, told the Journal.

Geffen, who fronted the DreamWorks side in the talks, is a dealmaker known for tough negotiating tactics, the report said. The Universal deal would have given DreamWorks founders Spielberg, Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg a graceful exit from the plans they laid out when founding the company in 1994.

DreamWorks may seek another buyer, though it has only held discussions with Universal, the Journal said.

Some people close to the talks were reported as telling the Journal they felt that GE and Universal were balking at DreamWorks' $1 billion-plus price tag -- especially given that some recent DreamWorks live-action movies, such as "The Island," have been flops and that its library is small by industry standards.

There were also concerns that Spielberg, who has been shooting his next film "Munich" in Budapest, hasn't been actively engaged in the talks, the Journal said.

GE owns the Universal Studios theme parks in Los Angeles and Orlando.