And at last, the consequences are out for the public to see. Reportedly owing to the major differences in opinion between Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros, the former has cut ties with its frequent distributing collaborator and has signed new agreements with Sony.
Warner Bros left the entire industry shocked when they announced that major films of their 2020 and 2021 slate like ‘Wonder Woman 1984’, ‘Dune’ and ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ will be released simultaneously in theatres and on their streaming platform HBO Max. It doesn’t take much thought to see that the move was a well-thought strategy solely for the benefit of their newly launched OTT platform. One thing they did wrong was keeping the move a secret from many stakeholders, and one in particular- their long-standing partner Legendary Pictures.
The move meant that the films produced or co-produced by Legendary which will be distributed by Warner Bros would have a big hole in their box office receipts. With a pandemic, many would prefer to watch the film at home rather than go to theatres and risk getting the virus. And the Legendary had made their disapproval clear then- they were reportedly going to sue Warner Bros. Things didn’t go that far and the studios went back to things as they were, and it was as though things were all ok again.
Or were they?
Today’s announcement is an indication that it was not. For a production company that has always stood unwavering with its commitment to making its films a theatrical experience, Warner Bros’ sudden announcement doesn’t seem to be something Legendary would just ignore. As they say, forgive but don’t forget. And it seems Legendary Pictures did exactly that. The announcement, made by the company regarding this new collaboration with Sony stressed ‘theatrical distribution commitments’. That makes understanding the reasons for departure abundantly clear.
Legendary has entered into a new distribution agreement with Sony. Being a production company known for biggies like the Monsterverse( King Kong and Godzilla movies) and Dune, Sony couldn’t have asked for a better partner. Sony would also be handling home entertainment and TV distribution of the films. However, Legendary’s films like the upcoming ‘Dune 2’ would still be distributed by Warner Bros.