Virgil Films Acquires Domestic Rights To Documentary About Alan Ladd Jr., Studio Boss Behind ‘Star Wars’, ‘Alien’, More

Virgil Films has acquired the U.S. and Canadian digital rights to Laddie: The Man Behind the Movies, a feature-length look at Alan Ladd Jr. directed by his daughter, Amanda Ladd Jones.

The studio boss and producer is responsible for some of Hollywood’s all-time biggest titles, including Star Wars, Alien, Blade Runner, Chariots of Fire, Police Academy, Braveheart, Thelma & Louise and Young Frankenstein. The film features interviews with George Lucas, Ridley Scott, Sigourney Weaver, Ben Affleck, Ron Howard, Morgan Freeman, Mel Brooks, Richard Donner.

As Deadline noted in a 2017 post, Ladd had a low-key style and was a man of few words relative to the industry’s chattering norms. When he was just 37, having grown up in the industry as the son of a popular Hollywood actor, Ladd became head of production at 20th Century Fox. Before long, he had green-lit several films that would cement his legacy.

Virgil president Joe Amodei said rental or purchase of the film will begin in July.

Laddie is billed as the story of one daughter’s effort “to better understand her father.” Jones sits down with Richard Donner, director Lili Fini Zanuck, producer Jenno Topping, and AMPAS President Cheryl Boone Isaacs to get their insights into Ladd’s approach and relationships with talent.

Virgil, which recently announced a Rocky making-of documentary with voiceover by Sylvester Stallone, was founded by Amodei in 2003. It has made deals with OWN, Sundance Channel Home Entertainment, National Geographic, Major League Baseball Productions and others. Virgil has handled documentaries like the Oscar-nominated Restrepo and Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me, as well as Miss Representation, Forks Over Knives and I Am Chris Farley.

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