A major shakeup just took place in Hollywood, and it has nothing to do with the Avengers lineup or any other cinematic universe. This is bigger: it was announced today that the China-based Dalian Wanda Group Co., Ltd. has acquired Legendary Entertainment for a whopping $3.5 billion, making this China’s largest cross-border cultural acquisition in history.Thomas Tull, Legendary’s Chariman and CEO, will retain his roles with the company and “continue to be responsible for its day-to-day operations and will significantly participate in the success of the company with Wanda,” with Tull adding:
“I am honored to be a part of the Wanda family. Together, Wanda and Legendary will create a completely new international entertainment company. There is an ever growing demand for quality entertainment content worldwide, particularly in China, and we will combine our respective strengths to bring an even better entertainment experience to the world’s audiences.”
Legendary’s primary focus has been in the feature film world with a knack for genre filmmaking, co-producingChristopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy and films likeWatchmen,Sucker Punch,300: Rise of an Empire, andDracula Untold. Recently, under its distribution deal with Warner Bros., Legendary had ventured into the realm of producing and spearheading its own projects likePacific RimandGodzilla, as well as Tull’s passion project42—an outlier for the company. The studio cut ties with Warner Bros. in 2013, striking up a new distribution deal with Universal Pictures. However, Legendary recently struck upanothernew deal with Warner Bros. forKong: Skull Island, which was set up at Universal before that studio became uncomfortable with Tull’s desire to include Easter Eggs and references toGodzillain order to lay the ground for an eventual crossover.Skull Islandthen switched to Warner Bros., which is now producing with Legendary theGodzillasequel andan eventualKong vs. Godzillamovie.
But back to today’s news. It’ll be interesting to see how/if Legendary’s output is affected by this acquisition. China is a huge market for Hollywood, and Legendary had laid the groundwork for this deal years ago by opening the joint-venture Legendary East. Legendary recently wrapped filming onZhang Yimou’sMatt Damon-frontedThe Great Wall, which is the largest film shot entirely in China.
So what happens now? Well I doubt we’ll see any more42’s in Legendary’s future, and a focus on bigger genre content likeGodzillaand Legendary’s upcomingWarcraftwill probably increase. Moreover, thiscouldgive us hope forPacific Rim 2, which was put on hold by Universal last fall. The impressive performance ofGuillermo del Toro’s first film in China was what essentially greenlit the sequel, so under Wanda it’s possiblePacific Rim 2could gain traction once again. Could this be what del Toro washinting at earlier today on Twitter?
I do hope Tull is still able to indulge in films that really only got pushed through because of his personal interest—he’s a self-professed geek/fan/nerd like us who wanted to see robots and monsters fight via Guillermo del Toro, so he backedPacific Rim. It’d be a shame if he lost some of his creative control or if the studio went really heavy into big genre films, leaving behind stuff likeCrimson Peak, or even smaller-budgeted films likeKrampus. The studio is currently focused on 2016 releasesWarcraft,The Great Wall, and the sci-fi picSpectral, but I’ll be very curious to see what their next big film announcement entails.
