ALWAYS ENDING THE PARTNERSHIP: Sony, Legendary to Go Their Separate Ways

Culver City, CA - In a surprise move, Sony Pictures and Legendary Entertainment announced earlier today that they will not be renewing their global distribution pact when it expires at the end of the year. The news was confirmed by Deadline.

According to sources within the two parties, the decision to part ways with each other came as a mutual one. However, an analysis of the previous partnership suggests that Sony realized Legendary's slate of movies was not yielding the expected results in terms of commercial success.

Legendary had enjoyed significant success in 2022 and at the start of this year, particularly with the release of Denis Villeneuve's 'Dune: Part Two' which grossed over $1.28 billion at the box office worldwide. Moreover, their upcoming project 'Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire', also raked in substantial revenue. Legendary's recent success at Warner Bros., coupled with strong box office performances such as 'A Minecraft Movie', seems to have created an appealing market for independent distributors.

Sony Pictures, having already marketed and released several movies under the global distribution pact which mostly bombed at the box office;  a rare biblical comedy film 'The Book of Clarence' grossing just $6 million despite its production cost being $40M. Legendary, who also handled all their marketing and distribution without Sony in China, must have reassessed their decision to partner with Sony in light of these losses.

Notable films on both studios remain unaffected by the impending separation: 'The Machine', a critically-acclaimed comedy film starring Bert Kreischer that raked in $11M from a production budget of $20 million. Another movie that got stuck under contract from the deal is 'Animal Friends,' a live-action animated, R-Rated hybrid directed by and starring  Ryan Reynolds against Jason Momoa and Vince Vaughn along with Aubrey Plaza set for an August 15th 2025 release.

To look forward to in terms of new opportunities from this ending are: a new release set up for the classic video game adaptation movie titled 'Street Fighter' from Capcom, slated for theatres on March 20th of next year!

In light of these developments, Legendary, having acquired Wanda Group's remaining equity shares in 2023 has solidified its footing ahead into this uncertain future