Steven Spielberg is set to pocket $187million from his five per cent share in Dreamworks after the animation studio was bought by Comcast

Steven Spielberg may already be one of the richest filmmakers on the planet, but his pockets got a little bit deeper on Thursday.

The Jaws and E.T. director is in line for a payout of $187million after entertainment giant Comcast, which owns the likes of NBC and Universal Pictures, agreed to buy Dreamworks for $3.8billion.

Spielberg collected the cash haul because he still owns a five per cent stake in the animation studio he helped found in 1994, which has produced films such as Shrek and Kung Fu Panda.

The payout could have been a lot smaller, but stock in Dreamworks jumped 50 per cent in the 24 hours before the deal with Comcast was announced after it was rumored by the Wall Street Journal.

While the windfall will bump Spielberg up a few places on the Forbes Rich List, where he currently occupies the number 453 slot, it will do little to change his standing among the wealthiest directors.

Spielberg comfortably occupies the number three slot among filmmakers with an estimated fortune of $3.6billion, according to Forbes.

That still puts him $1.4billion behind second-place George Lucas, who has amassed a fortune of $5billion after selling his Star Wars franchise to Disney, and Arnon Milchan, worth $5.2billion.

Milchan's New Regency Films created Oscar winners The Big Short, The Revenant and Birdman.

Comcast's deal means it will acquire characters such as Po, from the Kung Fu Panda series, the penguins from Madagascar, and Trolls, the 90s collectible figures set to get their own film.

Dreamworks, which is headquartered in California (pictured), was established in 1994 by Spielberg along with Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen

Those individual money-makers could be as vital to Comcast's expansion plans as the films themselves, as the company looks to rival the likes of Disney with is merchandising operation.

NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke stressed as much in a statement, saying: 'DreamWorks will help us grow our film, television, theme parks and consumer products businesses for years to come.'

In a separate interview, quoted by the Wall Street Journal, he discussed the company's plans to open a theme park in Beijing.

He said: 'How great will it be to have "Kung Fu Panda" in our park when Beijing opens?'

The other big individual winner from the sale of Dreamworks is Jeffrey Katzenberg, responsible for the day-to-day running of the picture-house, who owned an 11 per cent stake.

Including incentives to step aside from the company he treasured, Katzenberg is believed to have walked away with a payout close to $420million, the New York Times reports.