After persistent loose talk of "Transformers" Executive Producer Steven Spielberg leaving Viacom after his contract ends, the Wall Street Journal reports that he is very close to striking a deal to do just that.

Sources who are familiar with the situation told the financial newspaper that Mr. Spielberg and business partner David Geffen are near a deal to leave their current company and join Mumbai, India-based company Reliance ADA.

The Journal reports that the deal would provide Mr. Spielberg and Mr. Geffen $500 to $600 million in equity to fund a new movie venture. The paper speculates that the new venture would most likely attempt to find another $500 million in debt elsewhere to fund at least six films a year. The films would either be distributed by General Electric's entertainment company Universal Pictures or News Corp's Twentieth Century Fox.

Reliance would own a large stake of the newly-formed company.

Mr. Spielberg and Mr. Geffen have had a well-publicized torrential relationship with Viacom, Inc., parent company to Paramount Pictures, co-distributor of "Transformers" along with DreamWorks, SKG. Viacom purchased DreamWorks, SKG for $1.6 billion in late-2005.

Wall Street Journal also reports that while Paramount and DreamWorks share the rights to scores of projects including "Transformers," sources have said that Mr. Spielberg and company may bargain to take certain projects with them.

Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman, whom has gone on the record before saying that Mr. Spielberg leaving the company is "

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Beast Megatron 2008-06-19 5:09 am	Viacom would have to be pretty dumb to let this happen. And if Spielberg does leave, I hope he is able to talk the Transformers franchise with him because the man is a true visionary.
frenzy_rumble 2008-06-19 12:22 am	very interesting article.
bwbm 2008-06-18 9:34 pm	Previously it was all just loose talk and speculation saying that he'll leave. This report is the first one that concretely says where he may actually go instead of just hightailing it out of there.
BaCon 2008-06-18 9:10 pm	People who think they are at the top but really aren't.
Hunter Rose 2008-06-18 9:06 pm	Whenever I see articles like this, I always wonder - How stupid do you have to be to let Stephen Speilberg quit your company!?!?
I'm Batman 2008-06-18 8:58 pm	Wasn't there something about him leaving during the last movie? This all sounds kinda familiar...

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