Cannes Lions Entertainment’s Person of the Year for 2026 is not a traditional Hollywood studio head or network president. That’s Eddie Cue, senior vice president of Services at Apple. The Silicon Valley power broker commanded the stage Monday afternoon at the Lumiere Theater in the Palais de Cannes for a packed keynote, and he did so alongside a big-name Hollywood star, namely hit producer Jerry Bruckheimer.
Cue oversees Apple TV, Apple Music, and Apple’s film and TV studios, while also serving as senior vice president of health. Among Apple’s original success series there are proverbs Multiplewhich he described as the platform’s “largest series to date.” Ted Lasso.
On Monday, Cue and Bruckheimer once again teased a sequel to the hit film F1. “We will come back and hopefully make another F1“,” producer Bruckheimer told the audience, also mentioning his name F1 and Top Gun: Maverick Director Joseph Kosinski.
Keogh later added: “We’ll do it again. Hopefully we’ll make another Formula 1 movie. I think everyone wants to see another movie. It was Brad Pitt’s biggest movie ever. … It was a great story, it was fun, and you loved it when you were walking out of the theater or watching it at home.”
Bruckheimer echoed this, sharing with the Cannes Lions audience the reactions to the film F1 Film: “A lot of people come up to me and say, ‘Jerry, when I want to show my kids something, I’ll play it. F1 Because I feel very good after watching the movie, and that’s what we’re trying to do. We try to entertain audiences all over the world and tell them a great story, excite them, make them laugh, make them cry, and make them feel better when they walk out.
“Thanks to Eddie, we had the opportunity to do this, and we are very lucky that he is a sports fan and a Formula 1 fan. Without him, I don’t think the film would have been made,” he concluded.
Cue and Bruckheimer also mentioned a planned UFO conspiracy story directed by the latter and directed by Kosinski. “We will work together again, and not only F1“But it’s with Joseph Kosinski and you’re on a new project you’re working on about UAPs,” Cue said on stage.
“It kind of is,” Bruckheimer shared All the president’s men About what the government was hiding, and what was happening with the UAPs [or unidentified anomalous phenomena] All these years. We found these two gentlemen who were working for the government and they couldn’t understand what was going on, and they saw these anomalies, and they kept asking a lot of questions, and they had a lot of doors closed.
Theatrical windows also appeared in this context. “We have set[[F1]to nine different exhibitors and studios, and Apple came to us in the most creative way, where they said they were in theaters for 45 days, “but as it turned out, they left it there as long as people were buying tickets, which was a really great experience for the audience. And then it went to streaming and it was a huge success for them.”
“One of the things we’re trying to do is there are no rules about how things should be, so this whole issue of the 45-day window, and whether and how many offers you’re going to make on all the shows,” Keogh added. [episodes] “Right away,” he said. “We will adapt and do the right thing at that particular moment, so we shouldn’t make decisions too early.” In the case of F1, it has proven popular in cinemas. He described his reaction, saying: “The 45-day window has ended… and people are still watching [in cinemas]. Just leave it there!”
His conclusion was: “When you’re trying to be the best, you can’t have hard and fast rules. You have to be flexible, and you have to be able to move quickly.”
Cue on Monday also shared how he approaches Apple’s content strategy. He emphasized that about six and a half years ago, “we did not license any content. We started from scratch.” After all, for him, the focus of content is “the best, not the most.”
Pointing out unlikely offers, e.g to cut Or even Ted LassoKeogh said one of the keys to success for him is: “You have to believe in the creative team.”
He mentioned proverbs to cut and studio“I think we have some of the best shows on television,” Q offered. Praising the “amazing” programming team that Apple has built from scratch, led by Jamie Erlicht and Zach Van Amburgh, he pledged: “We’re just getting started. There’s still a lot to do.”
Sports is one of the areas that Keogh and his team are betting on. “We are passionate about the sport,” he told the Cannes Lions crowd on Monday. “It’s still a minority, but it adds to the service.”
Apple is now an EGOT winner, as Cue shares how the company works Shmegadon! It recently won a Best Musical Tony Award. “I’d never heard of this thing called an EGOT before, which stands for Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. Now we get it.”
The Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity has become a must-attend event for people across media, entertainment, advertising, technology and beyond every June.
“As the architect of Apple’s services and entertainment strategy, Eddy Cue has overseen the creation of one of the most distinguished creative studios in the world,” said Can Lyons. “Under his leadership, Apple TV has established itself as the home for iconic storytelling in TV and film, earning critical recognition and building a reputation for quality and creative courage. From early original releases to a growing slate of award-winning content, Apple TV has proven that ambition and integrity in storytelling are not incompatible with commercial success.”
