Bolstered by the strength of the new feature film “A Star Is Born,” Live Nation’s film and television production division Live Nation Productions has raised its flag in Hollywood.
“A Star Is Born” is the latest rework of the classic 1937 film of the same name. The 2018 edition of Star, which features Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, has been a success at the box office, generating more than 253 million dollars worldwide since it opened on Oct. 5th on a reported production budget of just $40 million.
According to the Wall Street Journal, people familiar with the film’s funding said that Live Nation Productions had a hand in the film’s success. The company put up about 25% of the funding for the film and provided critical marketing through its live platform as well, the Journal reported.
Live Nation first dipped its feet into the movie business in 2015 when Justin Timberlake filmed a documentary account of the final concert of his 20/20 Experience World Tour. The resultant film, titled Justin Timberlake + The Tennessee Kids premiered in 2016 at the Toronto Film Festival and was later acquired by Netflix.
“That first foray showed that we could leverage our relationship with a tour and an artist,” Live Nation’s Michael Rapino told the WSJ. “We looked at it as a great way to be in business with artists we’re already in business with.”
Other Live Nation Productions since then include documentaries on the bands Eagles of Death Metal and Imagine Dragons, as well as the Netflix original “The After Party.”
Live Nation told the WSJ that its new media division is more profitable than the company’s concert business but declined to provide specifics.
Live Nation Production’s next project will be its first foray into television with the documentary “From Cradle to Stage,” which seeks to bring to life a book written by Virginia Hanlon Grohl, the mother of Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl.
The company has several other potential projects in the pipeline as well, the WSJ reported.