LOS ANGELES , California ( CNN ) -- Walt Disney Studios has reached a distribution deal with Steven Spielberg 's DreamWorks Studios , the companies announced Monday . Disney will market at least six DreamWorks live-action movies each year produced through DreamWorks ' agreement with India 's Reliance BIG Entertainment , a major producer of Bollywood film , they said . The Disney deal replaces an agreement DreamWorks announced last year with Universal that fell apart in recent weeks . The announcement did not reveal terms , but industry media reports said the Universal deal collapsed when DreamWorks asked for cash to help finance the movies to be made under the Reliance contract . DreamWorks found itself short of financing because of the global economic crunch , according to Michael Cerenzie , a film financier and producer . The studio could not borrow the hundreds of millions of dollars needed to produce films , partly because much of its archives and intellectual property -- which would have served as collateral for loans -- was left behind at Paramount Studios , whose parent company bought DreamWorks in 2006 . Paramount still distributes DreamWorks ' animation features . Reliance will handle distribution of the movies in India . The first movie to be distributed under the deal is expected to reach theaters next year , the companies said . `` Disney is the birthplace of imagination and has always been as close to the worldwide audience as any company ever has , '' Spielberg said . Ironically , DreamWorks was born in 1994 after Disney excutive Jeffrey Katzenberg was passed over for promotion to president of Disney . Katzenberg resigned and then formed DreamWorks with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen . The DreamWorks-Reliance-Disney agreement is a major step in bringing India 's huge `` Bollywood '' industry together to Hollywood studios . BIG Pictures has development arrangements with several production companies , including those affiliated with performers Nicolas Cage , Jim Carrey , George Clooney and Tom Hanks .
Disney will distribute DreamWorks live-action films . DreamWorks has agreement with India 's Reliance BIG Entertainment . The deal is expected to be finalized in the next few weeks and could include a distribution pact for all of DreamWorks' animated films.