Legendary Entertainment facts for kids
Legendary Entertainment logo
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Legendary Entertainment headquarters at the Pointe office building in Burbank
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| Founded | 2000 |
| Founder | Thomas Tull, Scott Mednick, William Fay |
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Key people
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Number of employees
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153 |
| Parent | Wanda Group (2016–present) Apollo Global Management (2022–present) (minority stake) |
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Legendary Entertainment (also known as Legendary Pictures or simply Legendary) is an American company that makes movies and other media. It is based in Burbank, California. Thomas Tull started the company in 2000 with co-founders Scott Mednick and William Fay. Legendary has worked with many big movie studios. These include Warner Bros. Pictures, Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures, and Paramount Pictures. They also work with streaming services like Netflix and Hulu. Since 2016, Legendary has been part of the Chinese company Wanda Group. It also has a minority stake from Apollo Global Management since 2022.
Contents
The Story of Legendary Entertainment
How Legendary Entertainment Started
Thomas Tull founded Legendary Entertainment in 2000. He started it with Scott Mednick and William Fay. They raised a lot of money from different investment companies. Legendary was one of the first companies to connect making big movies with money from major financial investors. In 2005, Legendary signed a deal with Warner Bros. They agreed to make and pay for up to 40 movies together over seven years.
Changes in Ownership and Partnerships
In 2010, Thomas Tull and other investors bought out the original owners. This made Tull the biggest owner. This helped him guide how the company worked. In 2011, another investment company, Accel Partners, bought shares. This made Legendary worth more than $1 billion.
In 2013, Legendary made a new deal with Universal Pictures. This agreement meant Universal would help market and distribute Legendary's films for five years. This started in 2014, after their deal with Warner Bros. ended. In 2014, a Japanese company called SoftBank bought shares in Legendary. This made the company's total value around $3 billion.
Legendary Joins Wanda Group
On January 11, 2016, a large Chinese company called Wanda Group bought Legendary Entertainment. They paid $3.5 billion for it. This was the biggest time a Chinese company bought an American media company.
In 2017, Thomas Tull stepped down as CEO of Legendary Entertainment. Jack Gao took over for a short time. Later that year, Joshua Grode became the new CEO of Legendary Entertainment.
New Deals and Future Plans
In 2018, Legendary's deal with Universal ended. They then made a new agreement to work with Warner Bros. Pictures again.
In 2020, there were some discussions about how Legendary's films, like Dune and Godzilla vs. Kong, would be released. Legendary wanted a good deal because WarnerMedia planned to release movies in theaters and on streaming at the same time. They eventually reached an agreement.
In 2021, Legendary started looking for new business opportunities. They thought about joining with other companies or finding new partners. In 2022, a small part of Legendary was sold to Apollo Global Management. However, Wanda Group still owns most of the company.
In 2022, Legendary's deal with Warner Bros. ended again. Legendary started looking for a new partner. Both Sony Pictures and Paramount Pictures were interested. In November 2022, Legendary made a deal with Sony Pictures. Sony will help market and distribute Legendary's films. However, Legendary will still work with Warner Bros. for movies like Dune: Part Two and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Legendary will also continue to work with streaming services like Netflix.
Legendary's Different Businesses
Legendary Entertainment does more than just make American movies. They have several other business areas.
Legendary Digital Networks
In 2009, Legendary started a digital division. This part of the company first focused on making video games. Later, in 2012, they bought Nerdist Industries. Nerdist is a popular culture blog with a podcast. Its founder, Chris Hardwick, and Peter Levin became the new leaders of the digital division.
In 2014, Legendary also bought Geek & Sundry, Inc.. This company has a YouTube channel and makes videos. They also bought the website Amy Poehler's Smart Girls. For a while, Legendary Digital Networks had a subscription streaming service called Alpha. It offered shows from Nerdist and Geek & Sundry, but it closed in 2019.
In 2020, Legendary made some changes to its digital networks. The company decided to focus more on its successful film and TV businesses.
Legendary Comics
In 2010, Legendary started a comic book division called Legendary Comics. They publish graphic novels. The first graphic novel they released was Holy Terror by Frank Miller in 2011.
Legendary Television
In 2011, Legendary announced it would start Legendary Television. This division would focus on making TV shows. They even signed a deal with Warner Bros. Television. However, Legendary decided to pause this plan for a while.
In 2013, Legendary bought a company called Five33 Ltd. This company helps market movies. Now, Five33 works only on marketing Legendary's films. Also in 2013, Legendary hired Bruce Rosenblum to lead its television and digital media efforts. In December 2013, Legendary bought Asylum Entertainment. This company is known for making sports programs and TV series like The Kennedys.
Legendary East
In 2011, Legendary formed Legendary East Ltd. This is a joint company based in Hong Kong. Its goal is to make movies with Chinese companies. This helps them get around rules about how many foreign films can be shown in China.
Legendary East works with Chinese companies like China Film Group. They plan to make several movies together over a few years.
Movies Made by Legendary
TV Shows Made by Legendary
See also
In Spanish: Legendary Entertainment para niños
