DreamWorks Extends Option for Chocky

"Chocky" tells the story of a boy who has a mysterious imaginary friend with whom he frequently argues. As the boy's father gets increasingly suspicious, it becomes clear that an alien entity has taken up residence in the boy's consciousness. But given that DreamWorks is leaving Paramount to become an independent company, here's a question: Who will actually produce the project -- Par or the newly independent DreamWorks?

For months, speculation has been rampant about what some call a potential "bloodbath" over DreamWorks-developed projects under the just-ended Par deal. What would the DreamWorks execs attempt to take with them when they left? Ask Par execs that question and they reply that the Melrose studio owns all DreamWorks-developed properties outright. Unless DreamWorks partner Steven Spielberg and departing DW chief Stacey Snider purchase one or more of the projects, they're all staying put at Par.

DW is believed to be within two weeks of a deal with a studio other than Par -- probably Universal -- to distribute its future films. Should the famed director decide to bargain with Par, at least a handful of DreamWorks projects would seem ones that Spielberg and Snider might wish to take with them. They include "The Trial of the Chicago 7," which Spielberg was once planning to direct; an Abraham Lincoln/Civil War epic scripted by Tony Kushner; "Cowboys and Aliens," a comic book adaptation that has Robert Downey Jr. attached; and "The 39 Clues," a series of books that Spielberg has shown an interest in directing and which Jeff Nathanson is adapting.