Obviously more will come out today, but a bit sad to see this go...

Although it looks like the VFX staff will be spun out into a new P Jackson company...

Unity has just announced its intent to acquire Weta Digital, the legendary visual effects company co-founded by Peter Jackson, for a massive $1.625 billion.

Whether or not you recognize the name, you’ve seen Weta Digital’s work. From Lord of the Rings to Avatar to Shang-Chi, if its the kind of movie where people say “you should really see it in theaters,” there’s a good chance Weta Digital played a huge role in the VFX.

Leading into this deal, Weta Digital was both a team of artists creating visual effects and a team of engineers developing many of the tools those artists use. It’s those tools and engineering teams, specifically, that Unity is acquiring; the visual effects artistry team, meanwhile, will be split off into its own new thing.

Weta Digital’s 275+ engineers will join Unity. The VFX artists will be spun out into a new entity, “Weta FX”, which Peter Jackson will continue to own the majority of. The two companies expect to continue working together, with Unity noting that it sees Weta FX being one of their “largest customers in the Media and Entertainment space” moving forward.

https://techcrunch.com/2021/11/09/unity-is-buying-peter-jacksons-weta-digital-for-over-1-6b/