Legendary Entertainment, LLC[3] (also known as Legendary Pictures or simply Legendary) is an American mass media and film production company based in Burbank, California, founded by Thomas Tull in 2000. The company has often collaborated with the major studios, including Warner Bros. Pictures, Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures and Paramount Pictures, as well as streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu.
In 2016, Legendary became a subsidiary of the Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group, with American equity firm Apollo buying a minority stake in 2022.[4] In 2024, Legendary Entertainment bought out Wanda's stake, making Legendary and Apollo equal partners.
History
Thomas Tull founded Legendary Entertainment with co-founders, Jon Jashni, Larry Clark, William Fay and Scott Mednick[5][6][7] after raising $500 million from private equity firms.[8] It was one of the first companies of its kind to pair major motion picture production with major Wall Street private equity and hedge fund investors, including ABRY Partners, AIG Direct Investments, Bank of America Capital Investors, Columbia Capital, Falcon Investment Advisors, and M/C Venture Partners.[9] Legendary Pictures, Inc. was incorporated in California and in 2005 it signed an agreement with Warner Bros. to co-produce and co-finance up to 40 films over seven years.[9]
In 2010, Tull, Fidelity Investments, and Fortress Investment Group bought all the shares of the original investors. The buyout also included a $25 million investment by Orange Sky Golden Harvest Entertainment. Following the transaction, Tull became the largest shareholder, thus enabling him to more easily direct the company's operations.[10] Golden Harvest later sold its stake in the company for $30 million.[11] In 2011, Accel Partners bought $40 million-worth of shares and Accel partner Jim Breyer joined the company's board of directors.[12] That same year the company was reported to have been valued at more than $1 billion.[9]
In September 2011, Legendary Pictures Chief Creative Officer Jon Jashni was appointed to the new position of President and Chief Creative Officer of the parent company, Legendary Entertainment.[13] William Fay left Legendary Pictures in September 2011.[14] In December 2012, Waddell & Reed bought around 20% of Legendary's shares for $443 million.[15]
On July 10, 2013, Legendary reached an agreement with Universal Pictures in which it would market, co-finance, and distribute Legendary's films for five years starting in 2014, the year that Legendary's similar agreement with Warner Bros. expired.[16] In October 2014, SoftBank bought $250 million shares in Legendary for a 10% stake. The transaction increased the company's total value to around $3 billion.[17]
In 2014, Legendary acquired the television producer Asylum Entertainment, which made ESPN's 30 for 30 and miniseries The Kennedys, for $100 million, with Asylum Entertainment to continue operating as a separate company.[18][19]
On January 11, 2016, Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group announced that it had concluded an agreement with shareholders to acquire Legendary Entertainment for $3.5 billion, making it the largest acquisition of an American media company by a Chinese firm.[20]
In March 2016, it was announced that Jon Jashni had decided, on the heels of the sale, to leave the company to establish Raintree Ventures, a media investment and advisory firm.[21]
On January 17, 2017, it was announced that Tull had exited as Legendary Entertainment CEO.[22] He was replaced by the senior vice president of Wanda's cultural industry group, Jack Gao, as interim CEO.[23]
On October 17, 2017, it was reported that Gao stepped down from his positions at Legendary Entertainment and Wanda Group.[24][25] The resignation comes after an announcement by Wanda's chairman Wang Jianlin earlier that year that Wanda would refocus its investments onto the Chinese domestic market in an attempt to "actively respond to the call of the country".[24] This, in turn, is thought to be a consequence of the Chinese government banning Chinese banks from providing loans to Wanda Group's foreign operations, which was intended to stop the firm's offshore acquisition plans.[26]
On December 5, 2017, it was announced that Joshua Grode had been named as Legendary Entertainment CEO.[27]
On August 13, 2018, following the box office failure of several films including Blackhat, Seventh Son, Steve Jobs, Crimson Peak, Warcraft, The Great Wall, Pacific Rim Uprising and Skyscraper, the distribution deal between Legendary and Universal ended and a new agreement was reached to return to Warner Bros.[28]
In December 2020, Variety and Deadline Hollywood reported that Legendary Entertainment, financiers, and talent with backend deals were not pleased with WarnerMedia's multi-release plans and non-transparent intentions. Legendary was not given advanced notice of the multi-release decision nor given a say in how Dune and Godzilla vs. Kong would be distributed. The studio planned to have discussions with Warner Bros. regarding a more "generous deal" however legal action was considered.[29][30] A few weeks later, Deadline reported that the film could keep its HBO Max release but only if Warner Bros. matches Netflix's $250 million bid.[31] In January 2021, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that a legal battle was averted due to Legendary and WarnerMedia nearing an agreement to keep the film's simultaneous release.[32]
On April 30, 2021, the company hired LionTree Advisors to explore possible deals, including the possibility of merging with a SPAC, making acquisitions, or finding partners.[33] On July 22, 2021, it was announced that Legendary is looking for a merger instead of a SPAC.[34] On January 31, 2022, a minority stake in Legendary was sold to Apollo Global Management, with Wanda still remaining the majority owner.[4]
On August 31, 2022, following the lapse of their deal with Warner Bros., Legendary Entertainment began seeking a new partnership, with Sony Pictures and Paramount Pictures among the companies interested.[35]
On November 28, 2022, Legendary Entertainment reached an agreement with Sony Pictures in which Sony would market, co-finance, and distribute Legendary's films with the exception of China where Legendary East would handle all marketing and distribution on its movies. Sony would also handle home entertainment and television distribution for the Legendary titles it distributes. The partnership pact does not include Dune: Part Two and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire as Legendary would continue to remain in business for Warner Bros. Pictures. Legendary would also continue to partner with other companies for streaming, such as Netflix, as Sony does not have a streaming service.[36]
In October 2024, Legendary bought the Wanda Group out of its majority stake in the company for an undisclosed sum, in what its CEO Josh Grode described as a transaction in a "right place, right time situation" accretive to both management and Apollo Global Management, which would share a "roughly equal" stake. Grode further stated that Legendary's board of directors would be evenly split between management and Apollo executives, although its creative team led by Mary Parent would remain unchanged, with the company attaining more flexibility to pursue mergers and acquisitions on a large scale, "...when we would have conversations around large scale M&A, we would have to deal with the foreign ownership issue, and that's now no longer an issue."[37]
In November 2024, following the poor box office performances of their films such as The Machine and The Book of Clarence, the distribution deal between Legendary and Sony Pictures lapsed.[38]
On January 21, 2025, the company entered into a joint venture with Patrick Wachsberger to launch 193, a production and sales company which would develop and produce its own slate, outside of Legendary.[39]
On July 11, 2025, Legendary is eyeing a deal to acquire Lionsgate Studios, following the latter company's recent separation from Starz.[40] On August 18, 2025, it was announced that Legendary was also eyeing a multi-picture global theatrical distribution deal with Paramount Pictures.[41] In September, they closed the deal, which was set for three years.[42]
In October 2025, Legendary's owner, Apollo, came and talked with Paramount Skydance about joining David Ellison's possible bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery – a megadeal that could cost upwards of $60 billion.[43]
Divisions and ventures
In addition to producing American films, Legendary Entertainment has announced various other business endeavors.
Legendary Digital Networks
In 2009, the company announced the establishment of a digital division, to be headed by Kathy Vrabeck, that would primarily focus on game development, a move which surprised many industry analysts because of the film industry's previous disengagement with the video game industry.[44] The goal of the division was reoriented in 2012 with the acquisition of Nerdist Industries, LLC, a pop culture blog with an eponymous podcast.[45] Nerdist founder Chris Hardwick announced that he and his partner Peter Levin (founder of GeekChicDaily) would still have complete editorial autonomy and that they would become the new presidents of the digital division, with Levin heading digital strategy and the digital content.[46] In 2014, Legendary acquired both Geek & Sundry, Inc.
Filmography
Television
External links
References
- Stewart Clarke. Patrick Wachsberger, Legendary Join Forces To Launch Film Production & Sales Outfit 193 Deadline Hollywood, January 21, 2025, retrieved February 5, 2025^
- Working at Legendary Entertainment^
- LEGENDARY ENTERTAINMENT, LLC