The directors of Avengers Endgame were paid 5 million dollars for this adaptation of the iconic license!

The Netflix animated series Arcane is a huge public and critical hit and is also gearing up to return for a second season this November 9th. If we owe its creation to the brilliant studio Fortiche, it is also and above all a license derived from the ultra-popular game: League of Legends.

Online battle arena type video game (referred to by the acronym MOBA, for Multiplayer Online Battle Arena), League of Legends, released in 2009 and developed by Riot Games studio, has since experienced meteoric growth and established itself as one of the most popular titles in the world. In 2016, Riot Games announced 100 million active players. We have clearly moved from an unexpected phenomenon to a cultural phenomenon.

$5 million in compensation

Outside of the Arcane series, Riot Games struggled to turn the MOBA game into a larger entertainment franchise. Part of the problem seems to have been a lack of experience, which led to a situation where Riot Games had to pay two famous directors $5 million not to make a League of Legends movie! In this case, the Russo brothers, behind Avengers: Endgame, among others.

Diversity reveals information. A few years ago, while trying to make League of Legends a new Hollywood franchise, Riot Games teamed up with the following sibling duo to create a movie adaptation of the franchise. Not exactly for beginners then. Until the studio changed its approach to licensing. A change that cost the Russians $5 million in compensation.

However, Riot Games has not given up on the possibility of a movie, as one of the studio’s managers, Mark Merrill, confirmed to Variety.