Legendary Pictures Partners With Sony; Future ‘Dune’, ‘Godzilla’, and ‘Kong’ Movies Remain at Warners (For Now)
After parting ways with Warner Brothers (once again), Legendary has opted to set up a long-term partnership with Sony Pictures. However, there are some strings attached, indicating that future installments of ongoing film franchises made at Warner Brothers will still be distributed by them, at least in the near future.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sony is now the distributor for most projects being produced by Legendary Pictures going forward. Legendary will honor existing agreements with other studios, with the article suggesting that both MonsterVerse and Dune franchises will continue to be distributed by Warner Brothers, with the untitled Godzilla vs. Kong sequel and Dune: Part Two set move forward as planned. However, other trades have indicated that Legendary’s future commitments to these franchises — and who gets to distribute them after these two films — are matters that have to be discussed and negotiated between themselves, Sony, and other relevant parties. This means that Sony could opt to either let Warner Brothers continue to distribute future installments in the series, agree to a do a co-production, or take the reins of said franchises themselves.
Going forward, Sony will handle all distribution and marketing of Legendary’s films outside of China. In that country, the films will be promoted and advertised by Legendary East. At this time, Sony is not expected to co-finance any of their upcoming movies. Since Sony has opted not to create its own streaming service in favor of licensing content out to the highest bidder, they will stay the course and offer up new content to other streamers with Legendary’s approval. Legendary saw a good degree of success by putting the two Enola Holmes movies on Netflix, and while Legendary was said to be frustrated that Warner Brothers made the move to put Godzilla vs. Kong and Dune on HBO Max while the movies were playing in theaters, both films saw great pandemic-era box office returns and solid at-home viewership. Aside from Warner Brothers and Netflix, Legendary has previously collaborated with the likes of Paramount and Universal too.
Grant Davis is a freelance writer who has covered entertainment news for more than seven years. His articles have frequently appeared in Star Wars News Net as well as as other entertainment-related websites. As someone who grew up on Star Wars and comic book movies, he’s completely thrilled with the current era of genre entertainment.
