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For Brad Grey, no DreamWorks post-parting depression - just yet.

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Check out those parting words Paramount Pictures chose Friday when kissing DreamWorks good-bye. In its prepared statement, the studio brass told Steven Spielberg and his pals that not only could they leave and take everyone with them to their new production company (never mind those pesky employment contracts), but they could do it “without delay.”

In other words: Good riddance.

But, hey, no hurt feelings. The DreamWorks folks — especially David Geffen and Stacey Snider — have exactly the same sentiments toward Paramount boss Brad Grey and his team.

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So, as Geffen rides off into the sunset, and Spielberg and Snider decide who among their 150 employees will and won’t make the cut to their new venture backed by India’s Reliance ADA Group (tough luck to those who helped build the old DreamWorks and will be stranded on the unemployment line), Grey & Co. will only be able to celebrate their end to a tortuous three-year cohabitation with the dream team for so long.

That’s because Paramount’s parent — specifically its fiscally tough Viacom Inc. honchos Sumner Redstone and Phillipe Dauman, and their band of not-always-merry shareholders, will be watching closely to see how well Grey can perform without DreamWorks in the house. Let’s be honest. Not every DreamWorks film was a hit like “Transformers,” or “Norbit” (think money losers such as “The Ruins” and “Flags of Our Fathers” ... and just this weekend ‘Ghost Town’ was D.O.A. with about $5 million in U.S. ticket sales.

But, DreamWorks did come to Grey’s rescue with hit films when the former talent manager arrived at Paramount in 2005, discovered the cupboards nearly bare and then misfired with such box-office losers of his own, such as “Stardust” and “Hot Rod.”

Grey, whose studio this summer raked in some handsome fees (though no profits) from distributing the blockbusters “Iron Man” and “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” now has to prove that Paramount can develop enough hits by itself.

And for the foreseeable future, the studio, at least on paper, looks to be in decent shape. Next summer the studio is betting big on a trio of fat-budget hopefuls: a “Transformers” sequel, J.J. Abram’s “Star Trek” and “G.I. Joe.” Then in Fall 2009 comes another big budget flick, Marty Scorsese’s mystery thriller “Shutter Island,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio, and DreamWorks’ “The Lovely Bones,” which Peter Jackson directed and is based on Alice Sebold’s bestselling novel.

Paramount’s 2010 release schedule will include an “Iron Man” sequel in May and an expensive live-action version of Nickelodeon’s animated TV series, “The Last Airbender,” directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Beyond that, the studio plans to relaunch its Jack Ryan franchise, based on character in the spy thrillers by author Tom Clancy; the computer animated movie ‘Rango,’ from director Gore Verbinski and to be voiced by Johnny Depp; and a sequel to its 2003 comedy hit ‘School of Rock.’

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Hopefully, for Brad Grey, good riddance won’t turn out to be a wrong sentiment.

-- Claudia Eller

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