class=”alignleft size-medium wp-image-35599″ title=”Paramount logo” src=”https://www.heyuguys.com/images/2010/08/Paramount_logo-549×300.jpg” alt=”” width=”230″ height=”126″ />In these times of  financial uncertainty, at least one Hollywood studio is still bringing in the bucks.

Variety is reporting that media conglomerate Viacom (who own Paramount Pictures) have posted a 40% profit in the past quarter.

This has been partly achieved by international  box office results for Iron Man 2 and animated features How to Train Your Dragon and Shrek Forever After (both of which are shared with DreamWorks), helping lift theatrical revenues by 10%.

Viacom chairman 87-year-old Sumner Redstone (you may remember him famously severing ties with Tom Cruise’s production company after the infamous ‘couch-hopping’ incident a few years back) has stated that the “the horizon is brighter than it has been in a long time.”

This sound all positive, but when you read that revenue from DVD sales has fallen by 43% in the same quarter, perhaps it’s not ready to break out in wild celebrations yet.

Still, The Last Airbender has managed to make a so-so profit at the US box-office so far – quite a feat considering the critical reception it received (an appalling 8% on Rotten Tomatoes), and with Steve Carell comedy Dinner for Schmucks doing well on it’s release last week and another Dreamworks team-up (Megamind) due in November, maybe Viacom are looking at brighter days ahead.