Legendary's Godzilla 2 & beyond - News & Rumors

I thought Legendary was part of WB?

 

No, Legendary Entertainment is its own production company. They had a co-financing and distribution deal with WB for 40 films from 2005 till 2014, but they then made a similar deal with Universal, before moving back to a deal WB (which now appears to be wobbly). Kong: Skull Island, for instance, was largely developed under the assumption that it would be distributed by Universal.

But even outside those deals, Legendary has worked with Paramount (though only in WB co-productions), as well as streaming services like Crackle. In fact, I just noticed, not only has Legendary sold their movie "Spectral" to Netflix in 2016, but they also co-produced "Enola Holmes" last year. This is even more of an indication that Legendary might move more of their productions over to Netflix.

 

Oh, OK. I thought I read somewhere that Legendary was a subsidiary of WB, but I guess they must have been talking the co-financing/distribution deal and I misunderstood.

 

After the way WB treated them this year, I wouldn't be too surprised. I then wonder about the possibility of made-for-Netflix Monsterverse movies. I don't know if their license to the Toho monsters is going to continue past this movie, but assuming that it will, could they do movies that might not stand much chance theatrically? A Mothra or Rodan movie for example. It wouldn't be as high-budget as the previous movies, but then Shin Godzilla only cost $20 million, so it's certainly possible to make a cheaper kaiju movie.

 

My guess is this would be depending on whether Netflix is interested enough to pay for such movies, and if Toho would be willing to let them do it. My guess is, Netflix would be interested, as it would add a new exclusive IP to their catalogue that has fans all over the world, and Toho might be up for a deal which would allow them to release the movies theatrically in Japan. But that's a guess, educated only in my observing some of these deals over the past few years.

 

I think they would be interested. Netflix's biggest advantage right now is that they are firmly an international company. The other big streaming networks are primarily American in their content. Netflix has spent the past decade building international productions and markets all over the world--every major country or region has high quality films/series being produced and that is their niche that not even Disney can make a dent in yet.

By producing quality fantasy/sf films that have mass appeal in Southeast Asia as well as other places around the world they could have a "monster" product on their hands.

 

And let's not forget, Netflix made an offer for "Godzilla vs. Kong", which Legendary was open to. So, yeah, interest seems to exist on both sides.

Though, again, I'm still looking forward to seeing GvK on the big screen.

 

I think I heard a while back that Netflix had interest in the theatrical movie business as well as their platform.

 

That's what they did for the anime trilogy. It had a theatrical run in Japan and then released internationally on Netflix. And considering that they were willing to pay over $200 million to distribute GvK, I think they'd be open to such a deal.

 

@theenglish : Yeah, they are definitely interested, though maybe more as a concession to filmmakers who want their movies released theatrically. They even got Hans Zimmer to do a theatric music version of their logo "ta-dum":

 

King Kong having a sensitive, cuddly side to him makes sense, when gorillas in real life can be relatively docile and surprisingly cute animals:

 

Gorillas have always been a much-maligned species. They're the most placid of the great apes, only aggressive when threatened; it's chimpanzees that are the violent, hostile bastards (Planet of the Apes got this completely backward). The thing is, the first European to encounter gorillas, Paul du Chaillu, liked to shoot them dead and stuff them, and since saying "I murdered a bunch of peaceful, harmless herbivores for fun" didn't make him look very good, he propagated the myth that they were savage man-eaters that he heroically shot down in self-defense.

Although I question whether Kong is really a giant gorilla. The only version that really fits that description is the 2005 Peter Jackson version. All the other Kong designs are more upright-bodied and human-shaped, suggesting a distinct species of great ape, which makes more sense than just a really oversized gorilla (insofar as any giant kaiju makes sense).

 

Yeah, I've watched quite a bit of stuff on the great apes, and chimps are fucking brutal. Gorillas and Orangutans are both pretty laid back as long as you don't piss them off.

 

Also note that humans are chimps' closest evolutionary relatives, more so than the other great apes. Sometimes I wish we were more closely related to bonobos instead.

 

Many Victorian and Edwardian explorers were hideously arrogant, ignorant scum to murder such intelligent, affectionate creatures for sport.

 

I had the thought that somebody should do a story where aliens come to Earth and act like Victorian explorers. Then I realized maybe Predator counts.

 

At least Predators mostly go after armed thugs/cops/soldiers that could feasibly fight back.

 

Very true. My granduncle was director of the Lincoln Park Zoo way back in the day, and helped start the ape house there. I went some years ago for his 90th birthday (hosted in the current ape house) and got to see many of the apes there; apes showing their nurturing and gentle side is just. wonderful. And I'd like to think that's what my granduncle saw in them when he decided to open the ape house.

 

Legendary wasn't just open to it, they tried to accept it, but WB scuttled it only to later do the day 1 digital thing with all of Legendary's movies. That Netflix offer is why they were able to secure a revised deal on Godzilla/Kong so quickly as it had a built in valuation WB couldn't go under, and Legendary couldn't go much over as they had already accepted it as fair (although reports are they did get about a 10% bump, if only as fuck you pay me money for how WB has treated them).

There have been a few articles the last few weeks about the negotiations (I've been posting them in the Dune thread).

 

I’m thinking Kong’s greater upper body strength and tool making will give him the victory. ‘Zilla might wind up with a jaw stretch, same as T-Rex in the original.

A link to the 2005 movie in some wise would explain the ape/reptile hostility