Hey folks, Harry here... I've known Thomas Tull for ages and he's genuinely one of the very good guys in this business. He has a passion for cool properties - giving us some incredible cinematic imagery and stories over the last 12 years that he's guided LEGENDARY to truly legendary levels. The idea their films have garned $13 Billion world wide is a staggering concept - and while the below press release that came slamming into my email box doesn't tell us why he's left, other than after a year of working with the WANDA CULTURAL INDUSTRY GROUP in China, he feels all is going good at LEGENDARY and he can pursue some of the other interests he has. He's still going to be a producer on a few of the projects... but here, read this:
STATEMENT FROM WANDA CULTURAL INDUSTRY GROUP AND LEGENDARY ENTERTAINMENT
Thomas Tull has resigned from Legendary Entertainment and effective immediately will assume the role of Founding Chairman of the company he established and led as Chairman and CEO since 2005. Wanda Cultural Industry Group has named Dr. Jack Gao, Group Senior VP & CEO, International Investments and Operations, Wanda Cultural Industry Group as Interim CEO, Legendary Entertainment while the Company pursues the identification of a full-time CEO.
Wanda acquired Legendary in January 2016 and in a year’s time has built a solid platform and business to expand the release of the studio’s tentpole films into China and beyond. Wanda will also continue to fully support Mary Parent and her creative team with the resources needed to develop and produce its existing and future film slate.
“We are thankful to Thomas for his founding vision of Legendary as well as his commitment, leadership and partnership this past year. He will forever be part of the Company’s already rich legacy and powerful DNA,” said Gao. “As we move forward, Wanda aims to transform Legendary into a next generation studio of the future with a far-reaching creative and global platform. We look forward to working with the creative team to manage our already viable film slate with more to come in the near future.”
Stated Tull: “Building Legendary has been one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life. I have had the unique opportunity to be at the forefront of where the business is going and lead an incredible group of people as we innovated the way we thought about the film and television business, and the possibilities of collaboration between the west and the east. After a year of transition, I know that the Company is stable with great leadership, so at this point I am able to leave and pursue the new interests and endeavors I have been planning.”
Under his stewardship, Thomas Tull built Legendary Entertainment into a leading media company with film, television, and digital and publishing businesses. During his time, in aggregate, Legendary’s associated productions realized grosses of more than $13 billion worldwide with films such as Godzilla, 300: Rise of an Empire, Pacific Rim, Man of Steel, the Dark Knight trilogy and the Jackie Robinson biopic 42.
Tull plans to focus time on his Tull Investment Group which invests in life science, media and technology companies such as Magic Leap, Oculus Rift, Pinterest, Heal and Zoox. Tull serves on the Board of Directors of Hamilton College, his alma mater, and Carnegie Mellon University. He also sits on the boards of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, the National Football Foundation, the San Diego Zoo, the Smithsonian Institution and is part of the six-time Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers ownership group, where he also holds a board seat.
Tull will retain the title of Founding Chairman and remain a stakeholder in Legendary; he will remain involved as a producer on the Monsterverse movies and Legendary projects based on Dune.
ABOUT JACK Q. GAO, Group Senior VP & CEO, International Investments and Operations, Wanda Cultural Industry Group
Dr. Jack Q. Gao, as Group senior vice president of Wanda Cultural Industrial Group and CEO of International Investments and Operations, joined Wanda Group in June 2015.
Dr. Gao was senior vice president for News Corporation (NYSE: NWS, 2006-2014). His roles included serving as CEO, NWS China Investments (2010-2014); CEO, Star TV China Co. (2006-2010); chairman, MySpace China (2007-2010) and chief representative, NWS Beijing Representative Office (2006-2014).
Earlier, Dr. Gao was president and general manager of Microsoft China (NASDAQ: MSFT), general partner of Walden International, a leading venture capital firm in U.S., and corporate vice president and president of Emerging Geographies for Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK), where he directed all operations in Greater China and India.
Today, Dr. Gao is on the boards of AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AMC), Legendary Entertainment (Legendary Pictures, Legendary East etc.), Sunseeker Intercontinental in the United Kingdom, Europa City in France, and AGTech Holding Ltd. (HKEX: 08279). Dr. Gao graduated from the Harbin Institute of Technology and the University of California, Los Angeles with B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in engineering.
ADDENDUM SLATE
Slate: Filmed Entertainment Properties in Production, Post-production, Pre-production and Development include:
Kong: Skull Island
Pacific Rim Uprising
Untitled eSports movie (starring Will Ferrell)
Untitled Virtual Reality Project (directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu)
Dune
Detective Pikachu
Bad Blood (starring Jennifer Lawrence)
Skyscraper (Starring Dwayne Johnson)
Godzilla: King of Monsters
Kong Vs. Godzilla
Hot Wheels
Television Properties in Production, Pre-production and development include:
Downward Dog for ABC with ABC Studios
Colony for USA with Universal Cable Productions
LOVE for Netflix
Lost In Space for Netflix
Biopunk for USA Network
Carnival Row for Amazon
Looming Towers for Hulu
I don't know about you, but the idea of an Untitled Virtual Reality Project (directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu) has me incredibly excited. That's the exact kind of artist that I want playing in that medium. Also - the list of things that Tull is in the mix on is quite incredible. It'll be fascinating to see what this man does next. I'm especially heartened to see he'll be continuing on DUNE. Man I want more info on that one!
I got to work with Thomas Tull, when he brought me on as a producer on the Morgan Spurlock directed COMIC CON EPISODE ONE: A FAN'S HOPE, he was laser focused on making a documentary that fans could embrace and feel was an honest look at the mania and celebration of the pop artforms at Comic Con. I wish Thomas all the greatest of success with his future films and other endeavors. It's been Legendary!
Keep it cool,
Harry
