Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: Legendary Pictures, the feature production company behind such boxoffice hits as The Dark Knight, The Hangover and Inception, is entering the TV business with the launch of Legendary Television. Respected AMC development executive Jeremy Elice has been tapped to run day-to-day operations for the TV company under Legendary founder/chairman/CEO Thomas Tull and chief creative officer Jon Jashni.

Legendary Television is in negotiations with Warner Bros. Television for a deal whose terms are still being worked out. It would be an extension to Legendary’s 7-year co-financing pact with Warner Bros. on the feature side. Legendary’s approach to TV is expected to mirror their film strategy of developing broad projects with a focus on the fanboy/male demographic. Just like Warner Bros. Pictures has been mining DC Comics properties for film, several of them with Legendary (Superman Returns, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Jonah Hex) WBTV has been doing so for TV.

Elice is the last member of AMC’s original development team having joined the network’s original programming department in 2006 as the director of development. He was promoted to VP in 2008. Elice was involved in the development and staffing of Mad Men, brought Breaking Bad to the network and recently shepherded Rubicon. He also took Frank Durabont’s first pitch for Walking Dead and was integral in getting the project greenlit.

In addition to TV, Legendary, which was launched in 2004, is also currently expanding into digital media and is launching Legendary Comics, a graphic novel imprint. Legendary, which released 4 movies in 2010, Clash of the Titans, Inception, The Town and Due Date, has 2 films coming up this year, Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch and Todd Phillips’ Hangover 2.

TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.