Film Production
‘Spiderman’ creator Stan Lee to develop new superhero franchise
MUMBAI: The man who gave us the classic superhero Spiderman as well as X-Men Stan Lee has got further superhero plans up his sleeve.
His company Pow! Entertainment has forged a joint venture partnership with former Beatle Ringo Starr to create and launch an original entertainment franchise.
The animation concept will transform Starr into an evil-battling, earth-saving albeit reluctant superhero with a great sense of rhythm. The venture will be financed, produced and distributed by IDT Entertainment.
The superhero project will be developed by Lee with Ringo Starr’s entertainment company Rocca Bella for television, home entertainment/DVD, publishing and all categories of licensing and merchandising.
Production on the animated television series will begin later this year. DVDs will be rolled out in the first quarter of 2006. The superhero will be based on Ringo’s famed persona. Lee said, “Ringo is beloved worldwide for his commitment to people and his singular wit. Our Ringo superhero character will combine these qualities, along with Ringo’s secret powers which people generally didn’t know about because he has kept them secret, until now.
“What a blast this’ll be! Ringo Starr is one of the most colourful, creative guys I know. Between the two of us, we’ve cooked up enough wild ideas for music, humor, action and superhero surprises in our new animated project, featuring the rollicking, ringed and bearded Ringo, to keep the fans happy and excited for years to come”.
Starr said, ” I am so excited to become a ‘reluctant superhero’. How great to hang out with Stan and laugh, laugh, laugh, as we’re in the first stages of creating this soon to be masterpiece. Adding music to this adventure is something I am also looking forward to. See you in animation land — soon!”
Rocca Bella executive producer Marjorie Bach said, ” Ringo is not just a legendary drummer and musician but also an extremely talented artist and storyteller. Stan Lee invented the modern superhero, revived a dying industry and created a mythology. What a team! This animated project will allow us the freedom to create fantasy worlds based on Ringos’ superhero character that will delight and inspire everyone, from the children of the 60’s to the kids of today.”
IDT Entertainment focusses on developing, acquiring, producing and distributing computer-generated and traditionally animated productions and other productions for the film, broadcast and direct-to-consumer markets.
Film Production
Disney to cut 1,000 jobs under new chief executive
The entertainment giant’s freshly installed boss inherits a restructuring already in motion, with marketing and corporate roles bearing the brunt
CALIFORNIA: Walt Disney is preparing to slash up to 1,000 jobs in the coming weeks, the Wall Street Journal reported, as the entertainment giant’s freshly installed chief executive moves swiftly to trim fat and tighten the ship.
The cuts, less than 1 per cent of Disney’s global workforce of 231,000, will fall hardest on marketing and corporate roles. The planning, notably, began before D’Amaro formally took the top job in March, suggesting the new boss inherited a restructuring already in motion rather than one of his own making.
Driving the push is Asad Ayaz, Disney’s newly appointed chief marketing officer, who in January assumed command of a unified, company-wide marketing operation spanning film, television and streaming. His consolidation drive has been given a suitably cinematic internal name: Project Imagine.
The move is modest by Disney’s recent standards. Between 2023 and 2025, under former chief executive Bob Iger, the company eliminated roughly 8,000 positions across several brutal rounds of cuts, saving $7.5 billion, comfortably exceeding its own targets. As recently as June 2025, several hundred more jobs were axed across Disney Entertainment, hitting film and television marketing, publicity, casting, development and corporate finance.
Disney’s structural headaches are well-documented: shrinking streaming margins, a weakened box office, and fierce competition from Amazon and YouTube gnawing at its flanks. The company is merging its Disney+ and Hulu teams into a single app, has brought in consultants from Bain & Co to guide its broader cost strategy, and is betting heavily on digital growth.
The wider entertainment industry offers little comfort. Sony Pictures, Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery have all taken the knife to their workforces in recent years, and further cuts loom if Paramount’s acquisition of Warner goes through.
For D’Amaro, the message is clear: there will be no honeymoon period. The magic kingdom still has some cost-cutting spells left to cast.
