Legendary in Early Talks With Paramount for Film Distribution Deal

Legendary Entertainment is in early talks to partner with Paramount on the theatrical distribution of its film slate.

The production company behind “A Minecraft Movie” and “Dune” had been under contract at Sony Pictures after cutting ties with Warner Bros. in 2022. However, the multi-year deal at Sony expired at the end of 2024 and wasn’t renewed. Legendary has also worked with Netflix and Universal on various projects. Although the new agreement with Paramount hasn’t been signed and negotiations are ongoing, certain projects like upcoming “Dune” sequels and “Godzilla” or “Kong” entries in the “MonsterVerse” franchise would be exempt, staying at Warner Bros. due to a prior pact.

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The talks come after Legendary’s recent box office hot streak with last year’s “Dune: Part Two” and this year’s mega-hit “A Minecraft Movie,” which earned $714 million and $955 million respectively at the global box office. Meanwhile, Paramount has been on a dealmaking spree after closing its $8 billion merger with Skydance. David Ellison, the company’s chairman and CEO, and his newly assembled team have recently lured the Duffer brothers, best known for creating “Stranger Things,” from Netflix and won a bidding war for “High Side,” a buzzed-about feature package that will reunite “A Complete Unknown” filmmaker James Mangold with Timothee Chalamet. Ellison brought in Josh Greenstein, the president of Sony Pictures, and Dana Goldberg, chief creative officer at Skydance, to help revitalize the studio.

Looking ahead, Legendary will release an untitled film from director Alejandro González Iñárritu and star Tom Cruise, as well as “Dune: Part Three,” which began production last month. It’s unclear which projects Legendary will partner with Paramount on, since Warner Bros. is distributor on those aforementioned movies. But the production company has several films in development, including an adaptation of the video game “Duke Nukem” and card game “Magic: The Gathering.”

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