Good afternoon Insiders, Max Goldbart here taking you through another busy week. Read on. And sign up here.

As if by magic, three children’s lives were transformed rather drastically this week. The long-awaited unveiling of the trio of young thespians who will play Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger in the HBO drama series came Tuesday. Those roles, which as a reminder were contested by around 32,000 budding actors, have been handed to Dominic McLaughlin, Alastair Stout and Arabella Stanton by the HBO franchise’s casting supremo, Lucy Bevan. Unsurprisingly, given their age, you probably wouldn’t have heard of them until 72 hours ago (although Stanton played Matilda in the West End and McLaughlin will be seen in BBC drama Gifted), but soon they could be as well known as Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, whose careers have headed in interesting directions since the once-in-a-generation movies wrapped more than a decade ago. Given the rapid rise of social media since then and the febrile atmosphere surrounding the show due to the anti-trans views of Harry Potter author JK Rowling, the trio must now be fiercely protected as they take on a 10-year project that will catapult them to stardom. In our deep dive back in December, at which point the race to find the trio was into its final stages, agents told us parents need to “look ahead and prepare” for their kids to become a superstar overnight. Next up all eyes on who will land prized roles like Draco Malfoy, Cho Chang and Cedric Diggory, and there are still a few more adults to be cast before cameras roll this summer. The new term at Hogwarts just got a step closer.

For 40 weeks a year, the small Swedish town of Strängnäs plays home to the filming of international versions of Love is Blind. Netflix EMEA chief Larry Tanz visited the set this week as cameras rolled on the Polish iteration and he had time to take stock on a franchise that has become one of Netflix’s biggest. Despite lawsuits in America giving his overlords more than a bit of a headache, Tanz has watched on quietly as multiple Love is Blind versions have landed with a bang in their respective countries. He talked to us about the gargantuan task of filming what is effectively “four shows in one,” cultural specificities and why Netflix is “not in the formats business” per se. “We didn’t set out to do this,” he told Deadline. “We didn’t approach it saying, ‘Hey, let’s find a format and then put it in a bunch of countries’.” Dive in, sight unseen, over here.

Jafar Panahi was met with cheers as he arrived at Tehran airport on Monday following his Palme d’Or win in Cannes with It Was Just an Accident. Videos shared across social media show a large congregation of supporters for the veteran filmmaker jumping to their feet as Panahi exited border control. One person could even be heard shouting “Woman, life, freedom,” the slogan of the protest movement that shook the Iranian authorities a few years back. Panahi was last in the Cannes Competition with 3 Faces in 2019, a political road movie starring Iranian star Behnaz Jafari. It was the fourth movie he had made during a 20-year filmmaking ban imposed by the government of Iran. He was also unable to leave the country at the time. It Was Just an Accident was produced under similar restrictions, which left many commentators wondering what could be waiting for Panahi upon his return to the country. Failing to silence his work through restrictions and brutality, the Iranian regime appears to have been resigned to simply ignoring Panahi. Reports say his Palme d’Or win received only limited coverage inside Iran, but that feels a certain losing tactic. Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof broke it down best in an Instagram post celebrating Panahi. “It won’t be long before It Was Just an Accident reaches its primary audience: The people of Iran,” he wrote, adding that “the decayed and hollow machinery of censorship under the Islamic Republic has been pushed back.”

Back to Netflix, which has been busy in South America of late. The continent seems like an obvious area of growth for the ever-ambitious streaming platform and Stewart reported over the weekend that its Argentina hub has greenlit two movies, Lo Dejamos Acá and El Último Gigante, while rolling cameras on a Juan José Campanella pic. It’s all systems go in Argentina, with Latin America content chief Francisco Ramos telling us, “We are passionate about being part of the audiovisual creation of this incredible country.” In Brazil, the global penchant for soccer superstar docs rolls on with documentaries about Neymar and Ronaldinho, while there will also be a series set in the world of MMA. There appears to be a hell of a lot of untapped audience and talent potential in South America and it’s not a surprise to see Netflix trying to leverage a continent of nearly 450 million people. Shows like The Eternaut and Senna have proved big hits of late and more are set to come.

Paramount has opened the gates of “cross-promotion heaven,” Deadline revealed Wednesday, with Mission Impossible star extraordinaire Tom Cruise set to sit down with global soccer supremo David Beckham for Saturday’s UEFA Champions League final. The four-time Oscar nominee will be live onscreen with the former England captain and Inter Miami co-owner for Paramount+’s Beckham & Friends Live on Saturday, as PSG face Inter Milan (no need to remind this author that Arsenal got knocked out in the semis). Dom Patten wrote that the crossover is Paramount’s “sports equivalent of putting all your golden eggs in one basket,” bringing together undoubtedly two of the most famous people on the planet, one of whom recently dazzled in Cannes as Mission Impossible clocks up hundreds of millions in box office takings. More famous friends are anticipated to join Cruise and Beckham. During the Champions League semi-finals, Beckham — who does sponsorship and self-branding at the dizzying heights Cruise relentlessly markets his movies — was paired with CBS Sports presenter Kate Scott, director Guy Ritchie and Emmy winner Stanley Tucci.

🌶️  Global superstar Sabrina Carpenter is being eyed up for the third Mamma Mia! movie, according to Breaking Baz.

🌶️  Ukraine’s Alexander Rodnyansky is returning to documentaries with Notes of a True Criminal.

🌶️  Anne Watanabe and Jasper Pääkkönen are leading the latest international drama series hitting the market, Blood & Sweat, bringing together partners from three continents.

🎭 Ram Kapoor is leading JioHotstar’s Indian adaptation of Monk.

🏪 Vet independent talent agent Sara Puro-Steele is joining Portugal’s Hit Management.

📽️ : Shinfield owner Shadowbox will help manage Jordan’s nascent Olivewood Studios.

🏕️ Iconic French actress Catherine Deneuve has been set to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Taormina Film Festival in Sicily next month.

🏕️ Monte-Carlo’s Judith Light spoke to Stewart about artistry and activism.

🏆 : Storied German creative Philipp Käßbohrer will receive Deadline’s 2025 German TV Disruptor at Seriencamp next week.

🖼️ At the cast of The Real Housewives of London… it’s going to be a goodun’.

Zac Ntim contributed to this week’s Insider. It was written by Max Goldbart and edited by Jesse Whittock.