Sony buys majority stake in ‘His Dark Materials’ Bad Wolf Producer – The Hollywood Reporter
Long-rumored Sony Pictures Television acquiring Bad Wolf – the fast-growing production company behind HBO/BBC His Dark Materials adaptation and several other recent hits – it’s finally official, adding another big British banner to the company’s expanding arsenal.
Sony revealed on Wednesday that it has taken a majority stake in the Wales-based production company in a deal that includes Bad Wolf’s 250,000-square-foot Wolf Studios Wales facility near Cardiff and a 30% stake. which Bad Wolf owns in LA- is headquartered in sister company Bad Wolf America. While no financial details were disclosed, when the deal was first introduced in the trade press in October, the figure was put at £60 ($81 million). At the time, it was believed that Sony would acquire the minority stake in Bad Wolf held by Sky/HBO and Access Entertainment.
Since it was first launched in 2015 by BBC veterans Jane Tranter and Julie Gardner, Bad Wolf has established itself as one of the busiest production companies in the UK. His Dark Materials, an extremely ambitious project that it shot in the Welsh studio and recently concluded its third and final season, the company was behind Discovery of witches, Industry and I hate Suzie. Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries, plus HBO and Sky took a minority stake in 2017.
LA-based Bad Wolf America – run by Gardner – launched in 2019 and earlier this year received direct orders from Apple TV+ for the limited series Lady in the Lake it will be co-starring Oscar winners Lupita Nyong’o and Natalie Portman (marking her first foray into television).
Bad Wolf recently scored a coup by joining new seasons of Which doctor? when Russell T. Davies returned as presenter in 2022, Tranter and Gardner rehearsed with the writer on the show that they helped revive the success in 2005. The move would be the BBC’s first tout picked up an outside company to co-produce their hit movie. sci-fi series.
Wayne Garvie, president of international production for Sony Pictures Television, said: “In the blink of an eye, Bad Wolf has become one of the world’s most admired television producers. “The quality of its work, its rich imagination and boundless ambition make it one of the great emerging manufacturing houses of our time. Jane and her team have built a tremendous business and established Wales as home to some of the greatest stories of our time and now we look forward to helping them build even more. We are honored that they have chosen us as their partner for the next leg of their exhilarating adventure. ”
Bad Wolf joins a steadily growing group of British drama producers now in Sony’s hands as it continues to spend protracted spending on the companies behind some of the UK’s biggest programmes. Bought shares in Crown producer Left Bank Pictures in 2012 and A very English scandalBlueprint Television in 2016 recently ramped up its search for contracts, moved into children’s programming in 2019 with a stake in Silvergate Media and in 2020 invested in live sports company Whisper Films. Last year, it also made a big splash by buying a majority stake in Eleven, the company behind Netflix’s global bankruptcy. Sex education.
“The past five years since the launch of Bad Wolf has been an incredibly rewarding experience as, with the support of Access Entertainment, Sky and HBO, we have built a production infrastructure and a creative community. based on Wolf Studios Wales can compete with any TV Tranter says. “Sony Pictures Television shares our vision for the company’s future, and their immediate understanding and belief in Bad Wolf’s ethos make them the perfect partners for our future. . With a forward-looking global corporation like Sony investing in the future of Bad Wolf and Wales, that gives us the ability to achieve even greater heights in the years to come. ”
