Batman filmco buys Nerdist

Hollywood film studio Legendary Entertainment has acquired Nerdist Industries, the multi-platform prodco behind an original BBC America comedy.

Chris Hardwick

Legendary, which co-finances Christopher Nolan’s Batman feature film trilogy with Warner Bros, has finalised an agreement to buy Nerdist for an undisclosed amount. The move precedes a push into TV and film production.

To date, Nerdist was best known in TV circles for BBC America series The Nerdist, which is coproduced with Comcast Entertainment Studios. Founder Chris Hardwick has a huge following in the comic book world thanks to his popular Nerdist podcast.

The company also has a website, a premium YouTube channel and creates live events and claims 15 million aggregated monthly viewers, readers and listeners.

The move will allow Nerdist to “broaden their reach as an autonomous editorial brand, as well as pursue some exciting new ideas,” according to Legendary’s chief operating officer Tim Connors.

Legendary’s founder and CEO Thomas Tull was an early investor in Nerdist, which last year merged with e-newsletter group GeekChicDaily. Hardwick and Nerdist CEO/GeekChic co-founder Peter Levin now report into Connors as co-presidents of digital.

“This amazing deal allows Nerdist to not only scale our existing business beyond what we could have imagined, but also to extend into film and television while symbiotically supporting Legendary’s digital strategies,” said Hardwick.

Legendary itself moved into TV last year with the launch of Legendary Television. Former AMC VP of original programming Jeremy Elice heads up the unit.