Legendary Entertainment Acquires Nerdist Industries

Legendary Entertainment is going deeper into the fanboy world by buying Nerdist Industries, the genre and pop culture multimedia company.

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Nerdist's content already has a variety of connections into geek culture: a website, a YouTube channel, a podcast network, targeted e-newsletters and a live events business whose programs include a weekly comedy show at Meltdown Comics in Los Angeles.

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Right now, it is co-hosting and co-producing Course of the Force, a five-day lightsaber relay race that ends July 11, with partners Lucasfilm Ltd. and Octagon. According to Nerdist, its reach across all these platforms is 15 million viewers, readers and listeners per month.

Legendary is run by Thomas Tull, a known fanboy who was an early investor in Nerdist.

Nerdist was founded in 2008 by Chris Hardwick, a comedian and podcaster who has since grown into new-media personality and host of AMC's popular Walking Dead roundup show, The Talking Dead. In 2011, Nerdist merged with GeekChicDaily, a geek-centric site co-founded by Peter Levin, to form Nerdist Industries.

“With the acquisition, we'll be empowered to more aggressively help Nerdist broaden their reach as an autonomous editorial brand, as well as pursue some exciting new ideas together," said Legendary COO Tim Connors.

According to the joint announcement, "Hardwick and Levin will continue in their current roles within Nerdist and will also take on the roles of co-presidents of Legendary’s digital business. ... They will work closely with Legendary’s executive management team on event management and comics-related operations."

The acquisition will allow Nerdist to make stronger inroads into television and movies.