EXCLUSIVE: Here’s another big deal that the new David Ellison-led Paramount is working on: Legendary is in talks for a new multi-picture global theatrical distribution deal (sans China) with the Melrose Ave lot.
Terms are still being worked out on the pact, which has been in the works at many levels for a while since the spring. Paramount is expected to have a streaming window with a transactional window built in with Legendary. I hear that as far as the Legendary-Paramount slate goes, co-financing is up for discussion, contingent on projects at hand. What titles will be released is still TBD. Paramount Motion Picture heads Josh Greenstein and Dana Goldberg have a plan to increase the annual output of features to 15 a year. The plan is to eventually ultimately increase to 20 films a year.
Legendary currently doesn’t have an exclusive theatrical deal with any major studio per se, however, its Monsterverse and Dune franchises remain parked at Warner Bros, as well as the Ryan Reynolds-Jason Momoa live-action animation hybrid movie Animal Friends, which is set for release on May 1, 2026. Also, let’s not forget that Warners and Legendary both lay claim to this year’s massive success A Minecraft Movie, which made more than $955 million worldwide; that movie is the second highest-grossing MPA title YTD after Disney’s $1 billion-grossing Lilo & Stitch. There’s also the Alejandro G. Iñárritu-Tom Cruise movie at Warner Bros. Legendary’s business with Warner Bros continues even with this new Paramount deal, and sources say there will be more features announced between the two.
Legendary had a theatrical output deal with Sony that ended in December. Its run at Warners was much better box office-wise than Sony, where they had The Book of Clarence ($6M gross off a $40M production cost) and The Machine ($11M off a $20M production cost). Legendary’s deal was a global pact that had the Culver City, CA studio marketing and releasing its slate sans China, where Legendary East handled all marketing and distribution on its movies.
It’s no irony that Ellison’s new chief of comms Melissa Zukerman has a long history with Legendary’s Joshua Grode and production boss Mary Parent; Zukerman repped the production finance company when she was at Principal Communications.
Paramount declined comment.
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