In the anniversary year for the first of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, perhaps it’s fitting to see Peter Jackson’s tech assets, bundled as Weta Digital, pass over to Unity Films. With an outstanding $1.6B in cash and stocks on the table, we turned to our entertainment lawyer and business expert, Brandon Blake of Blake & Wang P.A, for greater insight.
Iconic films
Weta is, of course, best known as the New Zealand vFx house that brought Lord of the Rings to life, alongside James Cameron’s Avatar, as well as some work on Shang-Chi more recently. Surprisingly, their vFx business will be separated into WetaFx, staying the course with their movie work.
Unity is best known for their gaming engine, now being widely repurposed for virtual production entertainment content, including a proprietary cloud system. With the Weta acquisition, they will acquire both proprietary tech and the 275 engineers who know it best, including unique facial capture technology, the Loki physics-simulation tools for smoke and water, and the ‘Barbershop’ hair and fur system. Prem Akkaraju, Weta Digital CEO since 2020, will remain in the post for WetaFx, with their CTO, Joe Marks, moving with the Weta Digital name under the Unity banner.
Tech-entertainment crossover
In a time where we’re seeing more entertainment companies onboard tech assets, it’s intriguing to see the asset separation flow the other way. It’s been widely assumed that this tech acquisition by Unity will be leveraged for greater prominence in the entertainment industry, possibly beginning yet another tech giant crossover into the entertainment business through VR. In the meantime, Weta Fx will continue their work on the Avatar sequels.
The deal is anticipated to be finalized by the end of the year, with a swift, if likely unexciting, asset handover expected. We will be watching further developments from this intriguing split with interest.
Film and Television 