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Studio behind Dune and Godzilla leaves Warner Bros., partners with Sony

By Dan Selcke

JASON MOMOA as Duncan Idaho in Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures, Chiabella James
JASON MOMOA as Duncan Idaho in Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures, Chiabella James /
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Legendary Entertainment, the studio behind the recent Dune movie as well as the new run of Godzilla movies over the past several years, is exiting its partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery, according to Variety. Instead, it’ll partner up with Sony, which will market and distribute Legendary movies going forward.

There are a few exceptions to this rule; for instance, Warner Bros. Discovery will still back the upcoming sequel to Dune, which is due out in November of next year. Also, Legendary has bounced around Hollywood before. It split with Warner Bros. in 2014 to sign a five-year deal with Universal only to come back, so we’ll see what happens.

As for the reason behind this newest split, it may have something to do with a spat from last year…

Why is Legendary leaving Warner Bros.?

Back during the height of the pandemic, Warner Bros. opted to release movies like Dune and Godzilla vs. Kong in theaters and on HBO Max at the same time, which angered Legendary enough for it to threaten legal action. The companies were able to work things out, but you sense that Legendary is still steamed, especially when you read its joint statement with Sony Pictures, which highlights how the two companies are aligned in their “ongoing commitment to theatrical distribution as a driver for other ‘downstream’ windows and the theatrical window’s long-term value for films.”

In other words, Warner Bros. released Legendary movies on HBO Max at the same time they were out in theaters and Legendary hasn’t forgiven them for it. FYI, both Dune and Godzilla vs. Kong were box office hits even with the simultaneous HBO Max releases. Personally, I appreciated having the movies available in multiple formats, but I’m not a high-powered business guy, so I dunno.

Next. Carice van Houten would play Melisandre again “if the storyline was good”. dark

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