Lionsgate has found itself in a position to level up its film output in a big way. Monday, word broke that the mid-major studio is the frontrunner to purchase eOne from Hasbro, beefing up the former’s library with a slew of films and television shows. In the report from Deadline, it’s said Legendary has also been at the top of the pack as have Fremantle and CVC Capital Partners.
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Hasbro executives said last year they hoped to sell or spin-off every except for the company’s core assets, including all entertainment opportunities. “Entertainment is a core foundation of Hasbro,” a spokesperson for the company told Bloomberg last August. “As part of our strategic review process, we are always open to new and better ways to tell stories and bring people together through the power of play via our world-class family of brands.”
Most recently, Lionsgate’s most popular franchise has become John Wick, one it hopes to further expand through spin-offs and other universe-building stories.
“We’re now moving across that franchise, not just in the AAA video game space, but looking at what the regular cadence of spin-offs, television really growing that universe so that there is a steady cadence of a franchise that there’s clear appetite by the audience,” Lionsgate film boss Joe Drake explained earlier this year. “What is official is that, as you know, Ballerina is the first spinoff that comes out next year. We’re in development on three others, including [John Wick 5] and including television series, The Continental, will be airing soon. And so, we’re building out the world and when that five movie comes, will be organic — will be organically grown out of how we’re starting to tell those stories. But you can rely on a regular cadence of John Wick.”
Ballerina hits theaters on June 7th, 2024 while John Wick: Chapter 4 is now available for purchase wherever movies are sold ahead of its streaming debut later this year. The first three films in the franchise are streaming on Tubi.
