Sony is buying ‘Destiny 2’ developer Bungie for £2.6billion

EXCLUSIVE: Sony’s $106.4M global box office weekend for Uncharted was another reminder to a streaming-obsessed entertainment industry that the tried-and-true business model of theatrical features still works, and that there’s an audience for them.

Sony will release it’s first movie of 2022, and second Tom Holland title after Spider-Man: No Way Home over the 4-day Presidents Day weekend, Uncharted, in what is expected to be a $70M+ haul worldwide.

Sony Pictures Classics has pushed back the release for Roger Michell’s film The Duke, starring Academy Award winners Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren, by a month—from March 25 to April 22, 2022. It will be released in theaters in New York and Los Angeles on the latter date before expanding to additional cities over the following weeks.

Note: We will update reactions frequently

Sony Pictures Television and WarnerMedia have extended a content deal that will see the likes of Spider Man: No Way Home and Ghostbusters: Afterlife made available on HBO Max and HBO channels across Central Eastern Europe.

Naman Ramachandran Sony Pictures Television and WarnerMedia have extended their content deal across Central and Eastern Europe, which will see titles from the Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) slate of current and upcoming films shown exclusively on HBO channels and streamer HBO Max across the region.The slate includes “Spider-man: No Way Home,” “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” “Unchartered,” “Morbius,” “Happiest Season,” “The Broken Hearts Gallery,” “Monster Hunter” and “The Father.”The deal also includes titles from popular SPE franchises such as Hotel Transylvania, Spider-Man, Peter Rabbit and Jumanji and the Sony Pictures Television library of TV series titles.Countries covered under the deal are Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina and North Macedonia. HBO Max replaces HBO Go in the region on March 8.

Oscar winner Russell Crowe (Gladiator, The Loudest Voice) will star alongside Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Sony Pictures’ Marvel film Kraven the Hunter, from director J.C. Chandor (A Most Violent Year, Margin Call), Deadline can confirm.

Gran Turismo 7 Polyphony Digital has announced a collaboration with Sony, and will soon demonstrate its resulting “breakthrough” AI advancements.A short YouTube teaser (which can be viewed below) announced the collaboration.According to a tweet, tomorrow (February 9) will see a full announcement of the “breakthrough project in AI” between Polyphony Digital and Sony Interactive Entertainment. It’s likely that whatever AI tech is revealed will be included in Gran Turismo 7.At a glance, this AI system might be something similar to the Forza Drivatar system at Xbox.

The Masked Singer. There was a double elimination on tonight's show, with Aled Jones leaving the programme first when he was unmasked as Traffic Cone earlier in the night, and then later followed by the singer. Both fans at home and the judges in the studio - Mo Gilligan, Jonathan Ross, Davina McCall and Rita Ora, as well as guest judge Dame Joan Collins - were surprised to see the celebrity behind the elaborate costume.

Chace Crawford is teaming up with his brother-in-law Tony Romo for a new show!

EXCLUSIVE: Following the massive success of Spider-man: No Way Home, Sony is looking to to expand on its Marvel Cinematic Universe as sources tell Deadline that Dakota Johnson is in talks to star in the studio’s Madame Web movie. S.J. Clarkson is on board to direct the pic.Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless. penned the screenplay.

Sony released an earnings report that included details of its recent acquisition of Bungie that revealed employee retention plans.Sony revealed plans to purchase Destiny 2 creator Bungie for £2.6 billion earlier this week, and now an earning report says that a third of the money will be used for “deferred payments to employee shareholders, conditional upon their continued employment, and other retention incentives” (via TweakTown).The deferred payments are planned across multiple years once the acquisition is complete and aim to keep Bungie’s current staff at the company. Sony is prepared to use £582 million in deferred payments in the first two years after the deal completes.The acquisition was announced in a press release which revealed that Bungie would be an independent subsidiary of Sony Interactive Entertainment and run by its Board of Directors, chaired by Pete Parsons and Bungie’s current management team.“We’ve had a strong partnership with Bungie since the inception of the Destiny franchise, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to officially welcome the studio to the PlayStation family,” said Jim Ryan, President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment.“This is an important step in our strategy to expand the reach of PlayStation to a much wider audience.” Ryan continued, “We understand how vital Bungie’s community is to the studio and look forward to supporting them as they remain independent and continue to grow.

TOKYO -- Sony’s profit for the quarter through December edged up 11% on healthy sales from its film division, including the new Spider-Man movie, the Japanese electronics and entertainment company said Wednesday.Tokyo-based Sony Corp. recorded a 346 billion yen ($3 billion) profit for the fiscal third quarter, up from 310.7 billion yen the previous year.Quarterly sales edged up to 3 trillion yen ($26 billion) from 2.7 trillion yen.Sony said strong offerings in its music division, like the album “30" from Adele; movies like “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and licensing income from the “Seinfeld” series lifted earnings.Its imaging and sensor unit also posted solid results.In video games, sales fell short of expectations as a parts supply crunch, especially of semiconductors, dented sales of its PlayStation 5 machine, Sony said.The company's chief financial officer, Hiroki Totoki, said Sony's acquisition of Bungie Inc., known for its Halo and Destiny games, for $3.6 billion highlighted its commitment to the gaming business.The purchase includes payments to the shareholder creators at the independent studio to ensure their retention, he said.Analysts say the addition complements Sony’s strength in shooting games and will further solidify its position.But competition is heating up in the video game industry.Microsoft Corp.

Refresh for latest…: With a major assist from the phenomenal global box office performance of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Sony Pictures Entertainment has recorded a third-quarter profit of $1.314 billion, up a staggering 570% from the comparable period in 2020. Revenues saw a 122% increase to $4.063 billion versus the same quarter the previous year.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefSony’s pictures division achieved net profits of $1.3 billion in the three months to December 2021, boosted by a return to theatrical releasing and the blockbuster performance of “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” The $1.31 billion figure compares with profits of $194 million in the equivalent quarter of 2020, and with profits of $288 million in the preceding three months to end of September 2021.Parent company, Sony Group’s net profits grew by 20% in the three months to December 2021 hitting JPY461 billion. Sales were up by 13% to JPY3.03 trillion.The bumper results, unusually, made the pictures division the largest contributor to Sony’s consolidated net profits.

Destiny 2 players on non-PlayStation formats may have panicked today when Sony announced its acquisition of developer Bungie. Fear not though – the sci-fi shooter won’t be turning into a PlayStation exclusive any time soon.Following Sony’s shock purchase of Destiny 2 developer Bungie for £2.6billion today, questions immediately arose over the future exclusivity of the studio’s work.

Continuing the ongoing crush of gaming M&A, Sony Interactive Entertainment said it’s agreed to buy Bungie, an independent videogame developer and longtime Sony partner behind the Halo and Destiny franchises, for $3.6 billion.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorSony Interactive Entertainment announced a deal to acquire Bungie, the developer behind game franchises including “Halo” and “Destiny,” for $3.6 billion.SIE said the deal will give it access to Bungie’s “world-class approach to live game services and technology expertise. Bungie will continue to operate independently, Sony said.Based, which has more than 900 employees, is focused on the long-term development of “Destiny 2,” expanding the Destiny universe, and creating new worlds in future intellectual property.