Legendary Acquires ‘The Kennedys’ Producer Asylum Entertainment

Asylum won four Emmys for ‘The Kennedys”

Legendary Entertainment has acquired Asylum Entertainment, the television production company responsible for “The Kennedys” and “Beyond the Glory,” the company announced on Monday. Asylum CEO Steve Michaels and chief creative officer Jonathan Koch will operate Asylum as an independent company reporting to Legendary TV chief Bruce Rosenblum. 

“This is an exciting and significant acquisition for Legendary which confirms our commitment to building a global multi-dimensional television business,” Rosenblum said in a statement. “Asylum’s terrific track-record, relationships and current television content gives Legendary a base to expand and quickly diversify our television business.

Founded in 2003, Asylum has produced both scripted and unscripted television, principally for cable networks. In addition to “The Kennedys,” which won four Emmys, Asylum produced “Beverly Hills Pawn,” a documentary in ESPN’s “30 for 30” documentary series  and “Beyond the Glory” for Fox Sports.

The company is producing “Happy Valley,” a feature documentary on the sexual abuse scandal at Penn State University.

Legendary began as a film financier and producer, partnering with Warner Bros. on films such as ‘The Hangover” and “The Dark Knight.” The company has been actively scaling its television business this year, beginning with the hire of Rosenblum, the former Warner Bros. TV chief.

Legendary also just signed a first-look deal with Ben Stiller‘s Red Hour Films, which produces TV shows and digital series (in addition to films).

“This is an incredible deal that allows Asylum to scale our existing business beyond what we could have imagined,” Michaels and Koch said in a statement. “In terms of our programming philosophies and the audiences we’re trying to build and serve, Legendary is a perfect match.”

For the record: A previous edition of this story said Asylum Entertainment produced “Sharknado.” It did not. That was The Asylum.

Comments