Legendary Pictures
logofreak98, LogosForTheWin and others
Captures by
LogoFan111898, Tobias Benson01 and SubparMario63
Video captures courtesy of
Maxie's Random Junk, wMlogos, Marcos Derick and Logo Archive
Background
Legendary Pictures is a film production and mass media company founded by Thomas Tull in 2000 after raising $500 million from private equity firms.
In 2005, the studio signed an agreement with Warner Bros. Pictures to co-produce and finance their films. Shortly after that expired, they reached a five-year agreement with Universal Pictures in July 2013, which started the following year. On January 11, 2016, Wanda Group announced that it had acquired the studio for $3.5 billion, making it the largest acquisition of an American media company by a Chinese firm.
Universal's distribution deal with the studio ended in 2019, following the box office failure of several films the year beforehand, although the two companies would later collaborate on the short-lived Debris through their television divisions two years later. The studio later returned to Warner Bros. In November 2022, the company signed a multiyear deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment.
1st Logo (November 17, 2005-February? 2006)
Visuals: There is a forest above a lake, all obscured by clouds. As the camera zooms in, a sword fades in with the company name in a gold majestic font, in front of it. The clouds disappear as the logo fades in.
Variants:
- Sometimes, the logo is still.
- Early trailers for Superman Returns have a black background.
- Early trailers for Lady in the Water have water with the sky reflecting off of it in the background.
Technique: CGI animation.
Audio: The sound of wind followed by a majestic fanfare, or the trailer's opening theme.
Availability:
- This was only seen on the first trailers for Superman Returns, Lady in the Water, and The Ant Bully.
- Despite the logo being fully animated, it was pulled almost immediately and replaced with the next logo before usage on any of their films. However, this does appear in print form on promotional material for Batman Begins, their first film.
2nd Logo (June 28, 2006-November 25, 2009)
Visuals: Against a black background, there is an extreme close-up of a flame shooting downward. As the flame passes by the camera, it briefly leaves behind a cloud of smoke that obscures the screen. The camera pans back, and several more flames shoot across, eventually revealing a series of intertwining lines (resembling a Celtic knot) and the company name below it. As this all happens, the intertwining lines glow brightly with a white-red color, much like a heated branding iron, before cooling down to an orange color. A spotlight faintly shines over the finished product.
Technique: CGI animation by Picturemill.
Audio: The sounds of fire accompanied by a violin/piano-like sound composed by Walter Werzowa (of Intel jingle fame) at his company Musikvergnuegen.
Availability: Can be seen on the earliest films produced by the company such as Superman Returns, The Ant Bully, and 300. The last film to use this logo was Ninja Assassin, albeit as a variant.
Legacy: This logo is well-remembered for its unique concept.
3rd Logo (April 2, 2010-March 7, 2014)
Visuals: An enhanced version of the previous logo, which now has a much grungier appearance. The appearance of the first flame is now accompanied by a lens flare, the initial cloud of smoke has been removed, and particle effects from the flames, such as sparks, are visible throughout. The branding iron glow on the intertwining lines are now have a pulsating appearance, and have a slower, more gradual cooldown. The text now flies in from the lower-right corner of the screen word-by-word; and the finished logo, after zooming out, slowly rotates from right to left.
Variant: On later films with this logo starting with Wrath of the Titans, the word "PICTURES" is removed. "LEGENDARY" is also larger to accommodate this.
Technique: CGI animation by yU+co in association with Picturemill, animated in Autodesk Maya and rendered in stereoscopic 3D format.
Audio: A triumphant fanfare, composed by James Newton Howard, accompanied with the same sounds of flames from the previous logo (albeit more subdued in volume).
Audio Variant: On Picturemill's official upload, the last logo's fanfare is heard.
Availability: Seen on all films from the company starting with Clash of the Titans and ending with 300: Rise of an Empire.
4th Logo (April 24, 2014-April 12, 2019)
Visuals: Same concept as the previous two logos; but the branding iron/fire properties, as well as the previous logo's grungy aesthetic, have now been discarded. A blue streak of light now illuminates the logo, which along with the text has been redone in a pristine, shiny silver color. The logo is also now set against a black-blue space background, and the view moves 180-degrees clockwise.
Technique: CGI animation.
Audio: The same James Newton Howard theme from the previous logo, but with the ending note extended to fit with the length of the logo. The fire sound effects have also been changed.
Audio Variant: Starting in 2018 with Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, it uses a different triumphant theme composed by Frank Ilfman, with the full version getting eventually released on YouTube by Ilfman himself, which can be heard here.
Availability: First seen on the trailer for As Above, So Below, with the full version debuting on Godzilla (2014). It was last seen on Little, which is also the last film with Universal's involvement.
5th Logo (April 22, 2019-)
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Visuals: Similar to the last logo, but the light streaks on the Celtic knot are now orange, and the knot itself has visible paint textures on it (as opposed to the polished look from the previous logo). During the logo's rotation, a trail of infinite identical Celtic knots is underneath the logo, which fade into in a distant but bright white light; the trail of knots and light all fade to black as the logo zooms out to its normal position. The logo retains its silver color from before, now with a gold trim, while the name is in a metallic sans-serif font. The background has also been changed from a space one to a plain and darker blue one.
Trivia: The endless Celtic knots represent the concept of infinite possibilities.
Technique: CGI animation from yU+co, who solely designed it here. A behind-the-scenes featurette can be seen on their website.
Audio: The same Frank Ilfman theme as the last logo, with another new set of flame sound effects.
Availability: It first appeared on a trailer for Pokémon Detective Pikachu, called "What a Pikachu World" and later debuted on said film, and has been seen on all films following it, the most recent being Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
