Hasbro Entertainment is a production and distribution company owned and operated by American toy and multimedia company Hasbro and launched on August 16, 2023.[1] It succeeds Allspark, previously known as Hasbro Studios, as Hasbro's primary media production and distribution company and Entertainment One (or eOne for short). Hasbro acquired the latter on December 30, 2019,[2] had its family brands division absorbed into this division[3] and sold it to Lionsgate on December 27, 2023.[4] Lionsgate then rebranded Entertainment One as Lionsgate Canada on June 7, 2024 according to the Canadian publication, Playback.[5]
History
Background
Under the leadership of Brian Goldner as the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO), American toy company Hasbro was expanding into the audiovisual media industry, especially theatrical feature film productions.[6][7] On August 22, 2019, Hasbro announced its purchase of the Canadian company Entertainment One (eOne) for about US$4 billion;[8] Goldner led the acquisition.[6] The deal was completed on December 30, 2019.[2] Following the acquisition of eOne, Hasbro's own media production and distribution company Allspark (formerly known as Hasbro Studios) was folded into the acquired Canadian subsidiary,[9] which was under the leadership of Darren Throop, president of family brands Olivier Dumont, and former HBO head of programming Michael Lombardo.[2][10]
However, following the death of Goldner on October 12, 2021,[6][7] the subsequent promotion of Chris Cocks (who was previously with another Hasbro division, Wizards of the Coast) as the CEO in early-2022,[11] and after defeating a board challenge from a hedge fund company in June 2022 over the management of WotC,[12][13] Hasbro announced in late-2022 their intent to sell most eOne assets with companies such as Fremantle (who dropped out of the bid), Lionsgate, Legendary, CVC Capital Partners and GoDigital Media Group bidding for the acquisition, a transaction that would place the distribution rights to the Hasbro Studios/Allspark library and newer Hasbro-related content back to Hasbro. It was ultimately decided that on August 3, 2023, Lionsgate would acquire the eOne assets for $500 million. The deal closed on December 27, 2023.[4]
Development
During its 2023 Q2 Earnings Conference Call in August 2023, Hasbro announced a new banner titled Hasbro Entertainment. The studio is being overseen by former Entertainment One executives Olivier Dumont as president, Zev Foreman as head of film, and Gabriel Marano as head of television. Dumont was quoted as saying, "We are thrilled to embark on this new chapter, building upon our rich heritage of storytelling to continue delighting audiences across generations. Gabe, Zev, and I look forward to working with the industry's best creative talent, studios, and distribution platforms to push the envelope with innovative storytelling that will let fans engage with their favorite brands like never before, while also building exciting new worlds and the next wave of Hasbro franchises for a growing audience."[14]
Additionally, Tim Kilpin, President of Toy Licensing and Entertainment for Hasbro, was quoted as saying, "Entertainment is core to Hasbro's strategy and its mission to entertain and connect generations of fans through the wonder of storytelling and exhilaration of play. Audiences can count on Hasbro to keep creating compelling and fun entertainment that brings to life our wide array of iconic brands, including Peppa Pig, My Little Pony, and Transformers, reaching audiences through varied platforms in ways that resonate in today's fast-paced world."[14]
On October 3, 2024, in the same day of the premieres of its revival versions of the Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit game shows on The CW, Hasbro Entertainment launched an unscripted division, which is headed by Zach Edwin, who reports to head of television Gabriel Marano.[15]
On November 22, 2024, following Transformers One's underperformance in the box office, Hasbro announced that it was no longer co-financing films based on its properties, in order to focus on video games and digital entertainment, leaving external studios to exclusively fund such projects.[16]
^Alongside The Elf Factory Limited for Series 5 and Gaston's Cave Ltd for Series 6–8; did not animate the last four episodes of Series 7, but did animate the first four episodes of Series 8
^Animated the last four episodes of Series 7, but did not animate the first four episodes of Series 8
