LOS ANGELES – Steven Spielberg may be moving to the Walt Disney Company.

DreamWorks SKG, Mr. Spielberg’s boutique production company, is in advanced talks on a deal to distribute its movies through Disney, according to four people with knowledge of the talks but who asked for anonymity because negotiations are not complete. A deal with Disney, which could come as soon as Friday, would replace one Mr. Spielberg arranged with Universal Pictures just four months ago after an acrimonious divorce from Paramount Pictures.

Spokeswomen from Walt Disney and Universal declined to comment. Stacey Snider, the chief executive of DreamWorks, declined to comment.

Disney had been a suitor for DreamWorks back in October, and Stacey Snider, the chief executive of DreamWorks, and David Geffen, the co-founder of the studio, were keen to align with the company. But Mr. Spielberg ultimately overruled them, concluding that Universal – where he made his first blockbuster and where he still maintained offices – was the right fit.

Since then, however, the landscape in Hollywood has changed. DreamWorks, running into the buzz saw of the economic slowdown, has been unable to find the motion picture production funds to match the $500 million in funding that Reliance Big Entertainment committed to re-build the studio. Mr. Spielberg has even injected personal funds to buy time.

Disney’s motion picture studio, meantime, has been struggling. In the most recent quarter, Disney reported a 64 percent drop in income at the division, largely due to a decline in DVD sales around the world. The studio’s Touchstone label has been a disaster of late, with the films “Miracle at St. Anna” and “Swing Vote” ignored in the marketplace. Miramax, another Disney division, has had modest box office success with “Doubt,” but has had a diminished profile overall in recent years.

Disney also has room on its schedule to accommodate the four to six films DreamWorks plans to produce. In 2006, Disney limited the number of movies it makes to about 12 from as many as 20 in previous years, choosing to focus more intently on family films made on the Walt Disney Pictures brand.

Universal Pictures issued a statement Friday acknowledging that DreamWorks was shopping elsewhere. “Universal Pictures has ended discussions with DreamWorks for a distribution agreement,” it said. “Over the past several weeks, DreamWorks has demanded material changes to previously agreed upon terms. It is clear that DreamWorks’ needs and Universal’s business interests are no longer in alignment. We wish them luck in their pursuit of funding and distribution of their future endeavors.”