AGC Studios’ Stuart Ford Honored as Variety’s Billion Dollar Producer in Cannes

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International Israeli crime drama “Your Honor,” which was adapted by Showtime as the Bryan Cranston-led thriller, has been revealed as the most successful new scripted format in the last three years by U.K. media intelligence consultancy K7 Media. The Yes Studios-produced scripted format has had seven adaptations since 2020, including the Showtime series, alongside versions in India, France, Russia, Germany, Italy and Turkey. Other top-performing scripted formats with five or six new adaptations since 2020 include ITV’s he said-she said thriller “Liar” out of Britain; Stan’s Australian police comedy “No Activity”; Argentinian parenting telenovela “Dear Daddies” from Telefe; and the French showbiz dramedy “Call My Agent!” from M6.

The business of being funny can be an incredibly lucrative one.

Anna Marie de la Fuente A Blue Demon Jr. Lucha Libre Universe is in the works. Candle Media’s Exile Content Studio and L.A.-based film company Moxie 88 have joined forces to produce a range of content based on Mexican wrestling icon, Blue Demon Jr. The new 360-degree pact aims to expand the use of Blue Demon Jr.’s likeness in the areas of film, television, animation and merchandising on a worldwide scale. As the adopted son of Blue Demon, the legendary 1950s Mexican wrestling (Lucha Libre) icon who inspired hundreds of comic books and nearly 30 feature films, Blue Demon Jr. has continued the noble tradition, stamping his own style on the wildly popular sport. He became the first Mexican and second masked wrestler to claim the prestigious NWA World Heavyweight Championship and has sold out shows at Madison Square Garden.

Currently, Queen’s catalogue is owned by Disney Music Group which purchased the rights for a reported $10 million in 1991. 

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor After months of murmurs, news broke just before the long Memorial Day weekend that, according to unnamed sources, the surviving members of Queen were in the process of closing a deal for the legendary group’s catalog for a mind-boggling $1 billion. Universal Music Group, the world’s largest music company, was said to be the likely buyer. Three sources tell Variety the deal is in advanced stages — although another close to the situation says it is very preliminary — and that the billion-dollar price tag is “real.” However, exactly what is included in the package is not entirely clear. The deal “is Universal’s to lose,” two sources said — although Sony Music is said to be waiting in the wings — owing to the company’s longstanding relationship with the group, which signed with EMI in 1972 and remained with the company, which was acquired by Universal in 2011, throughout its career, However, in 1991 it signed a deal with Hollywood Records for U.S. and Canadian recorded-music rights only, which led to a later acquisition by the company of those assets — and therein lies one of the complicating factors.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Harrison Ford revealed in a new interview with Esquire magazine that the most common question “Star Wars” fans ask him is who would win a fight: Han Solo or Indiana Jones? It’s a question that has provided fodder for many Reddit discussions and social media debates, but it’s not one Ford ever wants to entertain. As Ford said about his fans: “Well, they usually ask me, ‘If there was a fight between Han Solo and Indiana Jones, who would fuckin’ win?’ And I say [voice rising, fingers drumming], ‘Me, asshole! I don’t want to fucking make shit up like that. I mean, what are you asking me that crap for?’” Ford has played Indiana Jones in five movies, including the upcoming “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” while his filmography with Han Solo also consists of five movies, including an uncredited cameo appearance in 2019’s “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.” That film marked the end of his Han Solo run, while “Dial of Destiny” will mark the same for Indiana Jones. Despite these iconic characters, Ford often stresses to fans that he is Harrison Ford and not Han Solo or Indiana Jones.

Harrison Ford has more than just acting skills.

EXCLUSIVE: Jet-set, celebrity artist Domingo Zapata will direct an adaptation of his 2017 semi-autobiographical novel The Beautiful Dream of Life.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International Jonathan Glazer’s Nazi drama “The Zone of Interest” has sold into major international territories following its buzzy Cannes world premiere. The film centers on the family of a high-ranking SS official that lives next door to Auschwitz concentration camp. The pic has sold into: Austria and Germany (Leonine), Benelux (Cineart), France (BAC), Greece (Spentzos), Italy (I Wonder), Japan (Happinet Phantom Studios), Scandinavia (SF Studios), Spain (Elastica) and Switzerland (Filmcoopi). In Poland — a significant sales market for the film given it is set there — Gutek has come on board as distributor. (A24 was selling worldwide rights for the film, but did not handle the Polish sale.)

When it comes to nailing down Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren’s looks for the hit show "1923," Emmy Award-winning costume designer Janie Bryant has got it covered.  During an interview with Fox News Digital, Bryant detailed what it was like creating a historic look for Ford and Mirren’s characters -- married couple Cara and Jacob Dutton. "I'll never forget, I had my first fitting with [Ford] and he was like, ‘Janie, do you have a three-way mirror?’ I said, ‘Of course, Harrison … let me show you.

for minutes of applause. So entrenched is this French farce that trade publications routinely time the euphoria and judge the response to the new films based on the length of the cheering at the Grand Théâtre Lumière. Cannes’ longest-ever roar? Guillermo del Toro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth,” which premiered there in 2006, at 22 minutes. This year’s fest is in full swing, and so is the ceaseless hand-slapping.Here are Cannes’ standing ovations so far, from triumphant to tepid.The most ecstatic response to a film so far at this year’s festival, which runs until May 27, was for Martin Scorsese’s latest drama. The historical movie from Apple and Paramount brings together two popular Scorsese stalwarts, Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, plus last year’s Best Actor Oscar winner Brendan Fraser and Jesse Plemons.

adapted from David Grann’s book of the same name — is set in Oklahoma during the 1920s and depicts the serial murders of members of the oil-wealthy Osage Nation, which was later dubbed the Reign of Terror and led to the formation of the FBI. The Post reached out to Scorsese for comment.“It’s taken its time to come around, but Apple did so great by us, shooting out there … there was lots of grass — I’m a New Yorker,” said the “Goodfellas” director in a post-film speech.

reports Entertainment Weekly. “I know that that is my face,” Ford, 80, said at a Cannes press conference last week. “It’s not a kind of Photoshop magic — that’s what I looked like 35 years ago.” “Because Lucasfilm has every frame of film that we’ve made together over all of these years.

 got a boisterous 9-minute standing ovation after the three-hour epic premiered Saturday at the 76th annual Cannes Film Festival.Leonardo DiCaprio, director Martin Scorsese and the rest of the cast soaked up every second of the ovation displayed at Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France.  posted a snippet of the thunderous applause, and outlet's co-editor-in-chief, Ramin Setoodeh, reports that the nine-minute standing ovation is «the biggest and loudest» of the film festival so far.According to, Scorsese took the mic after the ovation and addressed the excited crowd.«Thank you to the Osages,» he said. «Everyone connected with the picture.

That Harrison Ford sure has some stamina for someone in their 81st year.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Cate Blanchett kicked off her stilettos on Friday night as she took the stage a Cannes Film Festival party hosted by Variety and the Golden Globes. Because this is Cannes, where women are mandated to wear heels on the red carpet, shoes have become a political symbol on the French Riviera. And indeed, in this case, Blanchett went barefoot to make a statement — to stand in solidarity with the women of Iran. The A-list actor, on hand to present “Holy Spider” star Zahra Amir Ebrahim with a breakthrough artists award, grabbed the trophy and joked, “This is to stab everyone who stands in the way of women’s rights. Up the vajayjay!” In her remarks, an emotional Ebrahimi called attention to her home country, which is “executing innocent people.” She said, “I always thought being an actress was a paradox: serving the emotions of your own and being a flag or mirror or light. This award celebrates this paradox.”

Cannes took audiences back to their childhoods with the first screening of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” The film’s splashy premiere saw stars Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Mads Mikkelsen walk the red carpet, alongside Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger and director James Mangold. The first reactions were slow to drop but were filled with enthusiasm.

EXCLUSIVE: New indie film financier Mizzel Media is launching in Cannes with what we understand to be a healthy six-figure investment in feature The Girl From Köln, the next film from Holy Spider and The Tale outfit One Two Films.

In “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” the sturdy lark, positioned precariously in the liminal space between commerce and taste, there are the familiar callbacks, the big set pieces, the cracking bullwhip, dashing fedoras, nefarious Nazis, exotic locales, old friends and new faces. Something, however, is missing.

Come on, Harrison.”Ford was in a reflective mood throughout the press conference, talking about a lengthy career that allowed him “to learn from my experience a little bit of craft … and not get my ass kicked out when I didn’t do as well as I wanted to.” Harrison Ford addresses the de-aging technology in the new Indiana Jones movie – he looks decades younger in first 20 minutes: “it has to serve the story” #cannes @thewrap pic.twitter.com/qwl5rY9jkqThe film premiered on Thursday night in Cannes’ Grand Theatre Lumiere, where it drew the usual extended standing ovation from an audience of more than 2,000 in the huge theater. Prior to the screening, Ford was surprised by a film reel showing footage from throughout his career, and then by the presentation of an Honorary Palme d’Or for his body of work.“The warmth is unimaginable,” he said of his reception in Cannes.