Legendary Entertainment, the television and movie studio that is behind films such as A Minecraft Movie and Dune, is in discussions to acquire Lionsgate Studios. The move would shake up the movie industry, if it goes ahead. Lionsgate was recently split from television network and streaming provider Starz after an eight year partnership, but clearly more moves may still be on the cards.
That would give Legendary access to a wide array of intellectual property, with the likes of John Wick, Twilight, and The Hunger Games all falling under the Lionsgate umbrella. According to a report from Bloomberg, insiders with knowledge of the negotiations say talks are at an early stage and no takeover is expected in the immediate future. Instead, Legendary is exploring the possibility of partnering with Lionsgate on a number of upcoming projects to determine whether the two studios can effectively work together. Depending on the success of these potential films, a full acquisition offer could be made to bring together the two studios. Official representatives for Legendary and Lionsgate have so far refused to either confirm or deny talks.
Lionsgate purchased Starz at the end of 2016 and began the process of separating the two companies in 2023, with the end result being that Starz is now a fully independent publicly traded business. Sources explained to Bloomberg that Legendary approached Lionsgate shortly after that split was confirmed in May of this year.
Legendary was previously a joint venture between the Chinese multinational conglomerate Wanda Group and American equity fund Apollo Global Management. That changed in 2024 with Legendary buying out the Wanda Group, effectively making it an equal partner in terms of shares with Apollo. Following that move, Legendary’s CEO Josh Grode revealed that the company would pursue billion dollar takeovers to increase its reach and there were rumors of a possible acquisition of Paramount Pictures.
Legendary is best known for joining forces with major studios such as Warner Bros. and Netflix, producing films that include The Dark Knight and The Hangover. It is also the driving force behind the Monsterverse series of movies, which includes Kong: Skull Island and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, with a third film featuring Godzilla and Kong currently in the works. As part of a collaboration with Hasbro, Legendary is also working on a Magic: The Gathering film with Matt Jonhson lined up to direct.
Lionsgate currently has a library of more than 20,000 film and television releases. These range from cult classics like Saw and Dirty Dancing to commercially successful movies such as The Expendables and John Wick. The studio was also responsible for distributing the critically acclaimed La La Land in 2016 and is widely considered to be the largest of the mini-major film studios.
The move would make a lot of sense, giving Legendary access to a large library of movies and intellectual property that it could take advantage of as it looks to expand. Any sale would likely give Lionsgate shareholders a hefty financial reward. Reports of the potential takeover led to shares in Lionsgate rising by as much as 20%, reaching a market capitalization of just under $2 billion at the close of trade on Friday.
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