Legendary Entertainment, who is behind the production of films like "Jurassic World," "Godzilla" and the upcoming films "Godzilla 2," "Kong: Skull Island" and "Godzilla vs. Kong," have been recently acquired by Chinese tycoon firm Dalian Wanda Group. With the change in ownership, fans are worried that the films' release dates might be affected.
Wanda Group now owns the majority stake of Legendary Entertainment for $3.5 billion, according to a report by Deadline. Wanda Chairman Wang Jianlin, who is considered to be the richest man in China, plans to explore further the entertainment sector.
According to Wanda group, this was China's biggest international purchase to date and has definitely made the firm the first Chinese company to be in the Hollywood movie industry.
"Wanda Cinema already has made tremendous development in China, but it isn't enough," Wang Jianlin said, according to Reuters. "Movies are global, and our company certainly wants to add our voice to the world film market,"
Does this mean that the current films under production process, like "Kong: Skull Island" and "Godzilla vs. Kong" might experience interference from Wanda Group? Could this possibly affect the movies' release dates?
Thomas Tull confirmed that he will still remain as Chairman and CEO of Legendary and that Wanda Group wants him to continue to do things as how they have always been before.
"I am honored to be a part of the Wanda family," Tull said, in an official statement, according to Screen Rant.
"Together, Wanda and Legendary will create a completely new international entertainment company. There is an ever growing demand for quality entertainment content worldwide, particularly in China, and we will combine our respective strengths to bring an even better entertainment experience to the world's audiences."
With this issue cleared out, looks like the "Godzilla vs. Kong" movie production will still be on-target. According to Legendary's press release, the ultimate showdown film will have its release date on 2020; although, no specific date is set for now.