‘Dune’ Producer Legendary Entertainment Buys Out Dalian Wanda’s Stake

Legendary Entertainment, the producer of the “Dune” franchise, has bought out Dalian Wanda Group’s stake in the company. The pact leaves Legendary and Apollo Global Management in control. Terms of the sale, which Legendary financed itself via cash on its balance sheet, have not been disclosed. Legendary said it did not rely on outside financing for the transaction.

Dalian Wanda Group, a Chinese conglomerate, bought the entertainment company in 2016 for $3.5 billion. Apollo later bought a stake in Legendary in 2022 for $760 million.

Talks to buy out Wanda started roughly six months ago. In an interview, Josh Grode, the CEO of Legendary, said he couldn’t remember if the discussions originated with Legendary or Wanda, but said the deal will help the company when it comes to possible expansion.

“We have a good amount of excess liquidity on our balance sheet and this was a chance for us to do something accretive and buy out an investor for the right price,” he said.

Grode said that if Legendary wants to merge with another company or acquire one, it will make it easier to get regulatory approval since it will no longer have a Chinese company as a majority stakeholder. “We won’t have any international issues overhanging any expansion,” he said.

In a statement, Aaron Sobel and Lee Solomon, partners at Apollo, said, “We are thrilled to expand our relationship with Legendary and further support Josh and Mary and the incredibly talented team. We continue to see Legendary as an outstanding platform for future growth that is well positioned to thrive as the entertainment industry continues to evolve.”   

Despite self-financing the buyout of Wanda, Legendary said it has “significant excess liquidity after the transaction to finance its current business and planned expansion.” In 2023, Legendary announced it had secured a five-year, $800 million credit facility led by J.P. Morgan.

Wanda, on the other hand, has been selling off assets as it grapples with a cash crunch and a sizable amount of debt. In 2024, Wanda sold a stake in its mall operations and also off-loaded Sunseeker International, a maker of yachts, to Lionheart Capital. Grode described Wanda as initially reluctant when the idea of divesting was broached.

“Wanda took some convincing,” he said. “They expressed that they were looking for liquidity from some of their investments, but they were not eager sellers.”

Mary Parent, chairman of worldwide production at Legendary, will continue to oversee the film’s creative output. That makes sense as Legendary has produced a string of hits. Earlier this year, Legendary produced “Dune: Part Two,” a sci-fi epic that earned raves and grossed nearly $715 million worldwide. It will release a spinoff series, “Dune: Prophecy” in November. In addition to the “Dune” series, Legendary has built out a monster-verse of movies, the latest of which, “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” premiered last spring, earning more than $570 million at the global box office.

Among the studio’s upcoming titles are the video game adaptations, “A Minecraft Movie,” starring Jason Momoa and Jack Black, and “Street Fighter.” They are also backing Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s next film, which will star Tom Cruise.

Other Legendary releases include “The Hangover,” “The Dark Knight,” and “Enola Holmes.” In terms of television, Legendary has produced “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” for Apple TV+ and “Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft” for Netflix,” among other shows.

Legendary was represented in the transaction by O’Melveny & Myers, and Morgan Lewis Bockius represented Legendary management. Wanda was represented by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. Apollo Funds were represented by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.