Dentsu is making a big Hollywood bet with ‘Angry Birds 3’ — and beyond

Cathy Boxall wants Dentsu to have a deeper role in Hollywood. Dentsu Ad agency group Dentsu is joining holding company rivals in pushing into TV and film. It's making a capital investment in "The Angry Birds Movie 3" as part of a larger pipeline. It represents a broader move by brands to harness entertainment as people skip ads. When "The Angry Birds Movie 3" opens in December, it'll mark the franchise's tie-up with creators including MrBeast and Salish Matter, who are part of the cast. It'll also feature a partnership with a lesser-known actor: Japan's ad agency group Dentsu. Dentsu is becoming one of Hollywood's newest investors, and "Angry Birds 3" is the most visible part of its push. Dentsu said the effort is its first material capital investment in a film (it declined to say how large the stake was). The company, which is credited as a producer on the movie, is also contributing to the movie's $66 million marketing and distribution budget. Beyond "Angry Birds 3," Dentsu has been involved in other recent entertainment projects: It partnered with Made By Us Studios in June to develop and produce creator-led films and shows. It invested to help bring Gore Verbinski's sci-fi comedy "Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die," to theaters in North America in February. It partnered with the PGA of America in 2025 on an animated feature about sports, as producer and financier. The "Angry Birds" franchise is heading toward its third installment, with help from Dentsu. for Sony Pictures Dentsu execs say there's more in the pipeline and that the company plans to invest in more TV and film projects across genres and sizes, including titles like "Angry Birds 3" that are global and multiplatform. "We really want to be able to bring our clients and bring brands closer upstream, to the creators, to the IP owners, and help brands to work more creatively at really early stages," said Cathy Boxall, Dentsu's global head of entertainment. "And with creators themselves being more embedded within Hollywood, we feel like that's a really, really exciting opportunity for brands." Dentsu joins other big ad holding companies in getting a bigger foothold in Hollywood. These firms hope to position themselves as entertainment experts for brands trying to reach ad-avoidant consumers. For brands, that can mean doing a marketing tie-up with a buzzy TV show or making their own shows or movies. For "Angry Birds 3" and other projects in its pipeline, Dentsu gets a first shot at potential client integrations or co-promotions. The company said it's gotten a couple of clients — which it declined to name — integrated into "Angry Birds 3" this way. Dentsu also wants to capitalize on a shift in the entertainment ecosystem — as the number of big studios shrinks — and position itself to win more clients for its consulting and advertising services. "What you're seeing in Hollywood right now is that what was the typical entertainment client is changing," said Paul Kang, head of alternative investment at Dentsu. "From a studio sense, there's less of them now. But you've got more independent producers that are coming to agencies like ours, looking for marketing help than five, 10 years ago." Dentsu said its increased profile in film has borne fruit. In addition to creating opportunities for brand partnerships with clients, the company said it had seen an uptick in interest from potential entertainment clients. Other ad giants have moved into entertainment There's a crowded marketplace of companies competing to help brands crack Hollywood, from talent giants to specialty agencies and producers. Holding companies typically commit money to promote a film by lining up brands to co-market it, and recoup their investment by helping clients get integrated into the project. "Brands know they need to leverage entertainment and culture to drive business growth," said Julian Jacobs, who co-heads entertainment marketing at UTA. WPP and Publicis are considered standouts among ad holding companies for connecting brands to Hollywood. WPP has Motion Entertainment, which funds, develops, and produces TV, film, and digital content, and is best known for co-producing and financing the reality TV hit "Love Island." It also provides WPP's ad clients with first-look opportunities and early access to talent, ideas, and platforms. Publicis, through its entertainment arm Publicis Media Content & Innovation, invests in the development and funding of shows. It especially focuses on new properties like the sitcom "DINKS," which it fully financed, to get brand clients first dibs on ad opportunities, sponsorships, and access to talent. Jae Goodman, whose Superconnector Studios helps brands develop entertainment strategies, said he's glad to see more players get involved in entertainment — with a caveat. "Media agencies do best when they don't just attempt to leverage their media buys to get product integrations and original TV shows made for their clients, but also hire experts in integration and TV show development," he said. Read the original article on Business Insider

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