Having severed ties with Warner Bros, the blockbuster production financier Legendary Entertainment has now teamed with Sony.
As expected, Legendary Entertainment has announced a new partnership with Sony Pictures, confirming reports from August that it was seeking to end its long-term professional relationship with Warner Bros.
Under the terms of the deal, Sony will handle global marketing and distribution for all of Legendary’s productions, with the exception of China. The deal also extends to home entertainment and TV releases but doesn’t cover the Dune or Godzilla series which will continue to be distributed by Warner Bros. Also not covered under the terms of the deal are streaming releases, as Legendary will continue to broker its own deals directly with streamers, such as Netflix.
The problems leading to the split with Warner Bros stem largely from the studio’s decision to release its entire 2021 slate onto HBO Max at the same time as releasing it theatrically. As reports stated at the time, Legendary was none too pleased with this strategy and doubly so when it came to the big summer release of Godzilla Vs. Kong.
Stories even circulated claiming that Legendary was taking legal action against its partner and the relationship between the two which had only been renewed since 2019 (after Legendary spent a five-year spell at Universal) was perceived to have broken down.
With the deal between the two having now ended and the relationship soured, Sony and Paramount were reportedly keen to step in, with Sony managing to secure the deal.
Whether this will lead to Sony eventually co-financing films with Legendary is unclear but should that be the case, it certainly presents a lower-risk entry point into the high-budget market for the studio, that’s continuing to flex its blockbuster muscles having once been written off in that arena as being too far behind its rivals.
The last year has seen, after all, Sony score big successes with the likes of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Uncharted and Venom: Let There Be Carnage and the deal with Legendary could yet lead to co-financed blockbuster projects to develop Sony’s portfolio down the line. We’ll bring you more on this one as we hear it.
The Hollywood Reporter
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