Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney Buy Stake in Mexico’s Club Necaxa Soccer Team After Wrexham Success (EXCLUSIVE)

CNN‘s Mark Thompson told advertisers additional details about the network’s strategy, with plans to expand franchises to digital platforms and to build new branded verticals around topics beyond politics.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian-born and Texas-based director Roberto Minervini is known for making hard-hitting documentaries that dissect the backwaters of American society, such as his so-called Texas trilogy comprising “The Passage,” “Low Tide” and “Stop the Pounding Heart.” His most recent doc, “What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire?,” about a community of Black people in New Orleans during the summer of 2017 – when a string of brutal killings of Black men sent shockwaves throughout the country – launched from the Venice competition section in 2018. “The Damned,” which premieres on Thursday in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard and is Minervini’s first fiction feature, is set during the American Civil War in the winter of 1862.

Paramount will keep its chin up high amid the whole Sony and Skydance takeover headlines and keep the summer box office churnin’ with the John Krasinski directed Ryan Reynolds family movie, If, which is hoping to hit $40M; this is after Disney’s overperformance with 20th Century Studios’ Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes which posted a $58.4M opening.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer The theme of Disney‘s 2024 upfront presentation to advertisers Tuesday was “connections” — and not just because of the running bit started by “Deadpool” star Ryan Reynolds and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” star Rob McElhenney, which involved their constant replaying of a five-second ad spot that said “Connections!” with a Disneyified logo and voiceover. No, the symbol of unity across Disney’s brands was made up of a slew of announcements from Marvel, and about such other high-wattage projects as “Star Wars,” “The Bear,” “Only Murders in the Building,” the “Wizards of Waverly Place” sequel series, “9-1-1,” Ryan Murphy’s new slate of FX titles and more franchises with intersecting talent. Disney kicked off the event when Oscar-winning “Poor Things” star Emma Stone introduced the Mouse House’s big boss, Bob Iger — a job like that would traditionally go to a top ABC star.

EXCLUSIVE: Veteran producers Frida Torresblanco (Pan’s Labyrinth) and Frank Murray (First Reformed) have teamed up to launch Hangtime International Pictures, a new transatlantic production company headquartered in London and New York.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor London- and Paris-based production, finance and international sales outfit Film Constellation has unveiled a first exclusive clip from Titus Kaphar’s well-received drama “Exhibiting Forgiveness.” Film Constellation will screen the film for buyers in Cannes on Tuesday. The film received glowing reviews after its January premiere at Sundance in the U.S.

EXCLUSIVE: Ryan Phillippe (Shooter) and Kate Beckinsale (Underworld) are leading thriller The Patient, which is launching in the Cannes market with International Film Trust.

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor Mark Damon, an actor-turned-independent sales executive who was a force in the foreign sales world and at film markets for many decades, died Sunday in Los Angeles, according to his wife. He was 91. Damon won the Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer for his starring role in 1960’s “House of Usher” for director Roger Corman, who died Thursday, then went on to appear in numerous Spaghetti Westerns and other B-movies shot in Europe, from “Johnny Yuma” to Mario Bava’s “Black Sabbath.” Born Alan Harris in Chicago, Damon earned an MBA at UCLA, then moved to Rome where he established a busy acting career.

Brittney Griner opened up about the thought of traveling internationally again after being detained in Russia for 10 months.

EXCLUSIVE: Ahead of the Cannes market, Lionsgate has taken North American rights off the table on one of the bigger-budget new packages that’ll be on sale next week: that’s action-thriller Mutiny, which will star action evergreen Jason Statham (Fast & Furious) and be directed by Jean-François Richet (Plane).

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian-born Texas-based director Roberto Minervini is known for a distinguished career making documentaries including his so-called Texas trilogy comprising “The Passage,” “Low Tide” and “Stop the Pounding Heart.” His most recent doc “What You Gonna Do When the World’s On Fire?” about a community of Black people in New Orleans during the summer of 2017, when a string of brutal killings of Black men sent shockwaves throughout the country, launched from the Venice competition in 2018. “The Damned,” which is Minervini’s first feature film, is set during the American Civil War in the winter of 1862.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor TKO, the parent company of UFC and WWE, is on the upswing, delivering solid Q1 results and enough momentum for both franchises that the company opted to boost its full-year revenue and earnings guidance for Wall Street. TKO disclosed that it has reached a $25 million deal with NBCUniversal to allow WWE’s “Monday Night Raw” wrestling franchise to remain on USA Network through the end of this year. In January, TKO struck a massive 10-year deal with Netflix to bring “Raw” and other WWE content to the streamer’s platform as of next year.

Olivia Colman and John Lithgow are leading Jimpa, a movie about a trans non-binary teenager visiting their gay grandfather from Sophie Hyde (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande), with Protagonist Pictures launching international sales at Cannes.

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia creator Rob McElhenney has responded to Jerry Seinfeld’s recent comments about what he perceives to be the “death” of comedy.Seinfeld claimed in a recent interview with The New Yorker that comedy in television has been impacted by developing political correctness in society.As reported by The Independent, Seinfeld blamed “the extreme left [and] PC crap and people worrying so much about offending other people” for the “death” of comedy.The Seinfeld creator and star also claimed that jokes from his series wouldn’t be allowed to air today.“[One would be] Kramer decides to start a business of having homeless people pull rickshaws because, as he says, ‘They’re outside anyway’,” said Seinfeld as an example. “Do you think I could get that episode on the air today?”McElhenney has now responded to Seinfeld’s comments, making a reference to a character in It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia.The actor responded to Seinfeld’s comments via X, with the one-word reply: “Probably.”Probably.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Sandra Hüller, the Oscar-nominated actor of “Anatomy of a Fall,” and four-time Academy Award nominee Willem Dafoe (“At Eternity’s Gate”) are set to co-star in Kent Jones’ “Late Fame,” reteaming “May December” co-screenwriter Samy Burch and producer Killer Films. One of the hottest packages set for a Cannes Launch, “Late Fame” has been boarded by MK2 Films which is hot off an Oscar win for “Anatomy of a Fall” and will represent worldwide sales outside of North America.

After debuting early last weekend, Universal’s The Fall Guy expanded to 78 overseas markets during its sophomore session, adding $25.4M for a running total of $36.9M at the international box office. That’s in line with Bullet Train and above The Lost City at the same point in release. Globally, the David Leitch-directed action romance is at $65.4M. 

The UK sports media have got excited this weekend with reports that Will Ferrell is the latest movie star to bring his celebrity, and his wallet, to English football.

Olivia Cooke (Sound of Metal) and BAFTA Award winner Jamie Bell (All of Us Strangers) have signed on to lead Italian filmmaker Nathalie Biancheri’s latest pic Takes One To Know One. 

Welcome To Wrexham returns for a third season in May this year.Created by FX, the sports documentary series charts the ups and downs of Welsh football team Wrexham AFC after Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney bought the club in 2021.The show’s first season spanned the 2021/2022 season, which saw Wrexham narrowly miss out on promotion to the EFL League Two after being knocked out in the playoffs. In season two, which covered the 2022/2023 season, Wrexham were promoted after finishing top of the National League, in a closely fought race against Notts County.As you might expect, the 2023/2024 season is covered in season three, which debuts on Disney+ in the UK on Friday May 3.In the 2023/2024 season, covered in season three, Wrexham compete in EFL League Two for the first time in 15 years after securing promotion from the National League.By the end of the season, Wrexham finished second in the table below Stockport County and landed its second straight promotion.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor The Samsung TV Plus platform has logged steady growth as a distribution platform for entertainment and lifestyle content during the past five years. Now, the South Korean electronics giant is putting a bigger spotlight on the potential of its device-based footprint, which encompasses more than 630 million TV sets, smartphones and other devices sold across 24 countries.