Legendary Exec Founds $150M Studio

Legendary Pictures CEO Thomas Tull and business partner Bert Ellis recently announced their plans for the formation of a video game startup with an equity of $150 million. Known as Brash Entertainment, the company will focus on creating games around licensed properties and co-marketed movies, which Ellis describes as "the safest, most lucrative way to sell a video game." Brash Entertainment currently has five games in the works--including tentative plans for a PC game based off the most recent Legendary Pictures release, 300--and hopes to produce between 60 and 100 more additional games throughout the next five years. According to officer Jim Altenback, the company aspires "to be one of the biggest game studios in the country." In pursuit of this goal, Brash will outsource development to various studios around the world. In the past, co-founder Tull has been credited as executive producer on Legendary Pictures film releases such as Superman Returns, The Ant Bully, and 300--all of which saw licensed video games developed alongside them. Collision Studios' 300: March to Glory shipped last month for PSP to generally unenthusiastic reviews. Tull is also an executive producer on the upcoming Warcraft feature film based off Blizzard's successful franchise. 300 writer and director Zach Snyder recently praised the staff of Legendary Pictures and its grasp of the movie-game dynamic in an interview with GameDaily BIZ. "The Superman Returns game [from EA Tiburon] was given more time, and the guys at [film co-producer and co-financer] Legendary Pictures decided to take more time rather than ship it day-and-date with the film," he said. "They've been really instrumental and visionary on their perspective of the landscape. They're cutting-edge when it comes to the blending of the two mediums."