American production company
21 Laps Entertainment
Logo used since 2014
Formerly Wunjo, Inc. (1999–2005) Industry
Film
Television Founded January 29, 1999; 25 years ago (1999-01-29 ) (as Wunjo, Inc.) 2005; 19 years ago (2005 ) (as 21 Laps Entertainment)
[1] Founder
Shawn Levy Area served
Worldwide Key people
Shawn Levy (CEO) Dan Levine (Partner) Dan Cohen (Partner) Products Motion pictures, television programs
21 Laps Entertainment is a film and television
production company founded and run by filmmaker
Shawn Levy .
[2] The company is best known as the producers of
Stranger Things , and exclusively distributes content through a partnership with
Netflix .
[3] It has also produced films like
Arrival ,
Free Guy ,
The Adam Project ,
Cheaper by the Dozen ,
The Spectacular Now ,
Real Steel ,
Deadpool & Wolverine , and the
Night at the Museum franchise. The companies' name originates from the number of laps Levy's oldest daughter ran in a jogathon when she was 5 years old.
[4]
History
In 1999,
Shawn Levy , who after his start on television incorporated and founded the company as Wunjo, Inc. It was in-name only from the beginning until 2005. Levy made his breakout role as a film director on
Big Fat Liar ,
Just Married , and
Cheaper by the Dozen .
In 2003, Levy, after the success of his aforementioned feature films, launched his own production company with a first-look deal at
20th Century Fox Television . The deal was to produce half-hour sitcoms and hour-long dramas.
[5]
In 2005, Levy rebranded the studio to 21 Laps Entertainment and it signed a non-exclusive deal with
20th Century Fox to produce their films. The film division would be run by Tom McNulty, formerly employee from
Happy Madison Productions , and its television division by J.J. Klein. The first two products were
Cheaper by the Dozen 2 and
Pepper Dennis .
[6]
In 2010, Levy and
Marty Adelstein signed on to form a television company called 21 Laps/Adelstein Productions, and they signed a deal with
20th Century Fox Television and hired Becky Clements to serve as president.
[7]
In 2014, both Levy and Adelstein parted ways, with the latter launching Tomorrow Studios as a joint venture with
ITV Studios .
[8]
In July 2016, one of the company's television projects,
Stranger Things , premiered on
Netflix and achieved critical acclaim, earning a 95% on
Rotten Tomatoes with 55 out of 58 reviews being positive.
[9] The show's first season was also one of Netflix's most watched series, averaging 14.07 million adults 18–49 in its first 35 days.
[10] Along with producing the series, Levy directed two of the premiere season's episodes.
[11] The third season premiered on July 4, 2019
[12] and the fourth season premiered in two parts on May 27, 2022 and July 1, 2022. It was renewed for a fifth and final season.
[13] In 2020, the company signed a first look deal with Netflix.
[14]
Filmography
Films
Release date
Title
Director
Distributor
Notes
October 23, 2001
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
John Shepphird
PAX
first film; uncredited; co-production with
Regent Entertainment , ACH and Medien Capital Treuhand
February 8, 2002
Big Fat Liar
Shawn Levy
Universal Pictures
first theatrical film; uncredited; co-production with
Tollin/Robbins Productions
January 10, 2003
Just Married
20th Century Fox
uncredited; co-production with
The Donners' Company and
Robert Simonds Productions
December 25, 2003
Cheaper by the Dozen
uncredited; co-production with
Robert Simonds Productions
December 21, 2005
Cheaper by the Dozen 2
Adam Shankman
First credited film under the 21 Laps label
December 22, 2006
Night at the Museum
Shawn Levy
co-produced with
1492 Pictures and
Dune Entertainment
May 9, 2008
What Happens in Vegas
Tom Vaughan
co-produced with
Regency Enterprises ,
Mosaic Media Group ,
Dune Entertainment and Penn Station Entertainment
August 20, 2008
The Rocker
Peter Cattaneo
co-produced with
Fox Atomic
May 22, 2009
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
Shawn Levy
co-produced with
1492 Pictures ,
Dune Entertainment and
Ingenious Film Partners
April 9, 2010
Date Night
co-produced with
Dune Entertainment
October 7, 2011
Real Steel
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
co-produced with
Touchstone Pictures ,
DreamWorks Pictures ,
ImageMovers and
Reliance Entertainment
July 27, 2012
The Watch
Akiva Schaffer
20th Century Fox
June 7, 2013
The Internship
Shawn Levy
co-produced with
Regency Enterprises ,
Wild West Picture Show Productions and
TSG Entertainment
August 2, 2013
The Spectacular Now
James Ponsoldt
A24
co-produced with Andrew Lauren Productions and Global Produce
September 19, 2014
This Is Where I Leave You
Shawn Levy
Warner Bros. Pictures
co-produced with Warner Bros. Pictures and Spring Creek Productions
October 10, 2014
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Miguel Arteta
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
co-produced with
Walt Disney Pictures and
The Jim Henson Company
December 19, 2014
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb
Shawn Levy
20th Century Fox
co-produced with
1492 Pictures and
TSG Entertainment
November 11, 2016
Arrival
[15]
Denis Villeneuve
Paramount Pictures (North America)
Stage 6 Films (International)
Entertainment One (United Kingdom)
Roadshow Films (Australia)
co-produced with
FilmNation Entertainment and
Lava Bear Films
December 23, 2016
Why Him?
John Hamburg
20th Century Fox
co-produced with
Red Hour Productions and
TSG Entertainment
February 17, 2017
Fist Fight
[15]
Richie Keen
Warner Bros. Pictures
co-produced with
New Line Cinema ,
Village Roadshow Pictures ,
RatPac-Dune Entertainment and Wrigley Pictures
March 3, 2017
Table 19
Jeffrey Blitz
Fox Searchlight Pictures
co-produced with 3311 Productions
April 20, 2018
Kodachrome
Mark Raso
Netflix
co-produced with
The Gotham Group and Motion Picture Capital
August 3, 2018
The Darkest Minds
Jennifer Yuh Nelson
20th Century Fox
August 31, 2018
Kin
Jonathan Baker and Josh Baker
Lionsgate
co-produced with
Summit Entertainment and
No Trace Camping
October 16, 2020
Love and Monsters
Michael Matthews
Paramount Pictures (North America)
Netflix (International)
co-produced with
Entertainment One
February 19, 2021
The Violent Heart
Kerem Sanga
Gravitas Ventures
co-produced with Material Pictures and 3311 Productions
August 13, 2021
Free Guy
Shawn Levy
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
co-produced with
20th Century Studios ,
Maximum Effort ,
Berlanti Productions ,
TSG Entertainment , Lit Entertainment Group
October 6, 2021
There's Someone Inside Your House
[16]
Patrick Brice
Netflix
co-produced with
Atomic Monster
March 11, 2022
The Adam Project
Shawn Levy
co-produced with Maximum Effort and
Skydance Media
October 14, 2022
Rosaline
Karen Maine
Hulu (United States)
Disney+ (International, via
Star )
Star+ (Latin America)
co-produced with
20th Century Studios
December 9, 2022
Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again
Matt Danner
Disney+
co-produced with
Walt Disney Pictures ,
Atomic Cartoons and
Alibaba Pictures
May 12, 2023
Crater
Kyle Patrick Alvarez
co-produced with
Walt Disney Pictures
June 2, 2023
The Boogeyman
Rob Savage
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
co-produced with
20th Century Studios and NeoReel
Upcoming
July 26, 2024
Deadpool & Wolverine
Shawn Levy
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
co-produced with
Marvel Studios and
Maximum Effort
September 27, 2024
Never Let Go
Alexandre Aja
Lionsgate Films
TBA
Be More Chill
TBA
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
co-produced with
20th Century Studios ,
5000 Broadway Productions and
Berlanti Productions
Boy Band
TBA
Paramount Pictures
co-produced with
Maximum Effort
Untitled Free Guy sequel
TBA
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
co-produced with
20th Century Studios ,
Maximum Effort ,
Berlanti Productions and Lit Entertainment Group
Untitled
Sesame Street film
Jonathan Krisel
Warner Bros. Pictures
co-produced with
Marc Platt Productions ,
[17] Entertainment 360,
[18] and
Sesame Workshop
Untitled Backrooms film
[19]
Kane Parsons
A24
co-produced with A24,
Chernin Entertainment , and
Atomic Monster
Seismic
[20]
TBA
Netflix
co-produced with Lit Entertainment Group
Television
References
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^
" 'Stranger Things' Producer Inks Massive Overall Deal With Netflix" . The Hollywood Reporter . December 6, 2017. Retrieved April 20, 2019 .
^ Shawn Levy (March 19, 2018).
The Story Behind The Name '21 Laps Entertainment' . Producer's Guild of America.
^ Adalian, Josef (November 14, 2003).
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^ Fleming, Michael (October 7, 2005).
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^ Andreeva, Nellie (June 18, 2010).
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^ Andreeva, Nellie (June 4, 2014).
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The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved October 1, 2019 .
^ Goldberg, Lesley (September 30, 2019).
" 'Stranger Things' Renewed for Season 4 as Creators Ink Nine-Figure Netflix Deal" . The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved October 1, 2019 .
^ McNary, Dave (November 19, 2020).
" 'Stranger Things' Producer Shawn Levy Signs First-Look Feature Deal With Netflix, Expands TV Pact" . Variety . Retrieved November 20, 2020 .
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a
b Barnes, Brooks (November 25, 2016).
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^ Squires, John (August 23, 2021).
" 'Creep' Director Patrick Brice's New Movie 'There's Someone Inside Your House' Crashes Netflix in October" . BloodyDisgusting . Retrieved August 23, 2021 .
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The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved December 5, 2018 .
^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (November 15, 2016).
"Can You Spell David Guion & Michael Handelman? They Are Writing 'Sesame Street' Film For Warner Bros" .
Deadline Hollywood .
^ Grobar, Matt (February 6, 2023).
" 'The Backrooms' Horror Film Based On Viral Shorts By 17-Year-Old Kane Parsons In Works At A24, Atomic Monster, Chernin & 21 Laps" . Deadline . Retrieved February 23, 2024 .
^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (February 13, 2023).
"Netflix Picks Up 'Seismic' From 'Mortal Kombat's Greg Russo; Shawn Levy's 21 Laps Producing" .
Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved February 13, 2023 .