Adiós a la asociación Warner Bros. & Legendary Pictures
645
Una de las asociaciones más fructíferas de los últimos tiempos está llegando a su fin. Desde hace meses se venía rumoreando que Legendary Pictures tenía la intención de separarse de Warner Bros. a la finalización del contrato que les une, aunque también había quien pensaba que la reestructuración en la ejecutiva de WB podía hacer que Legendary se quedase. Sin embargo, fuentes de ambos estudios han confirmado que las conversaciones para renegociar el contrato han terminado y Legendary Pictures iniciará una ronda de conversaciones con otros estudios. Al parecer, la nueva casa del estudio estaría entre Universal, Sony, Fox y Lionsgate.
Legendary y Warner Bros. han gozado de un gran éxito desde su primera colaboración en 2005 con 'Batman Begins', para después producir la trilogía completa de 'The Dark Knight', la saga 'The Hangover', 'Inception' y más recientemente, 'Man of Steel'.
Aun así, el presidente de Legendary, Thomas Tull, lleva tiempo buscando el poder ejercer un mayor control creativo sobre el contenido del estudio, razón por la que ha decidido buscar un nuevo socio cofinanciador. Por contra, Warner Bros. busca desarrollar más títulos en solitario en lugar de asociarse a la hora de financiar proyectos. El estudio tiene la esperanza de llevar a la gran pantalla múltiples adaptaciones de DC Comics de la misma forma que hizo con la franquicia 'Harry Potter', lo que significarían ingentes beneficios que no tendría que compartir.Tull se reunirá con diferentes estudios en los próximos días y es probable que el acuerdo se haga oficial durante el mes de julio. Entretanto, el próximo lanzamiento de Legendary será 'Pacific Rim', la cinta de Guillermo del Toro que llegará a los cines estadounidenses el 12 de julio.
Es que desde el móvil sólo me ha alcanzado para echar un vistazo por encima... al titular.
El propio Thomas Tull, fundador y CEO de Legendary Pictures, ha confirmado a The Wrap que el acuerdo es un hecho. Se espera un comunicado oficial en breve.
UNIVERSAL CITY, CA, July 10, 2013 — Universal Pictures and Legendary Entertainment will enter into a multi-year film partnership in which the two companies will produce and co-finance Legendary and Universal films with Universal distributing Legendary films worldwide. Making Universal its new home enables Legendary to not only leverage the power and success of Universal's film business and theme parks, but also the cross promotional support from NBCUniversal and Comcast assets through the company's "Symphony" program. The announcement was made today by Universal Pictures Chairman Adam Fogelson and Co-Chairman Donna Langley and Legendary Entertainment Chairman and CEO Thomas Tull.
"Comcast and NBCUniversal's global assets in film, television and theme parks offer Legendary unmatched breadth and opportunity to grow our business. We are delighted to be in business with this exceptional team and look forward to a successful partnership," said Tull.
Universal and Legendary's film partnership is a complementary arrangement for both companies. Legendary, which is known for producing and financing successful large scale films, will continue to create and finance tent pole films based on intellectual property that is uniquely appealing to the coveted fanboy audience. And Universal, which has a proven track record of turning films of all shapes and sizes into hits with special skills in growing and nourishing original franchises, will market, co-finance and distribute Legendary films for five years beginning in 2014.
"Legendary has demonstrated a keen ability to identify and acquire powerful fresh intellectual property based ideas, match them with strong filmmakers and turn them into blockbuster hits," said Fogelson and Langley. "The Universal team is thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with Legendary in turning those ideas into the best and most successful versions of themselves around the world."
Under the terms of the deal Universal and Legendary will jointly identify opportunities to expand Legendary's franchises and intellectual property into Universal's theme parks, and Universal will have an opportunity to collaborate with Legendary on projects in China following Legendary's historic deal with China Film Group.
"Legendary continues to prove that big ideas are relevant and profitable with our global movie-going audience. We couldn't be more thrilled to embrace the challenges and changing marketplace with Thomas and his team and we are also excited about what opportunities this will bring to our Theme Parks around the world," said Ron Meyer, President and COO, Universal Studios.
"We are very excited to be in business with Thomas and Legendary," said Steve Burke, CEO of NBCUniversal. "The partnership is a perfect fit for both companies and I am confident that together we will be in an even better position to deliver compelling, profitable entertainment content to a global audience for years to come."