Posts by Tom Linay

My penultimate film watching day in Cannes was notable for two things: I caught a brief glimpse of Marion Cotillard and Zoe Saldana as they arrived for the press conference for their new film, Blood Ties, which is screening out of competition. From what I could tell, both were wearing great dresses, which is the least you’d expect, I guess. The other notable thing was I saw a man walking around with two small pigs on leads. He was accompanied by another man who was singing a song on guitar that seemed to be called ‘I Love My Pig’. I’d like to say this was unusual but after five days in Cannes, it isn’t.

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The first weekend of Cannes is over and my celebrity spots have been off the scale, including Harvey Weinstein, a Thai princess, Olga Kurylenko and Sanjay from Eastenders, all within a few hours on Saturday evening. I’ve also seen some striking films, the best of which is Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring.

Out on 5 July, it tells the true story of a group of fame obsessed teens in LA who take to robbing celebrities houses. Their subsequent notoriety almost provides them with the kind of fame they crave. Starring Emma Watson and a host of newcomers, it’s funny, inventive and bitingly relevant. It also features a number of amusing celebrity cameos. With a host of upmarket fashion brands pilfered by the group, perhaps it’s a great opportunity to get some on screen? It would also make a great double bill with April’s Spring Breakers.

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The talk today has been not so much about films but global warming. Last year, Cannes was unusually wet. Queuing outside for screenings wasn’t pleasant and screening rooms eventually smelled vaguely of wet dog. Maybe it wasn’t so unusual though as two days in to Cannes 2013 and it has rained almost constantly and the forecast suggests it’s not letting up any time soon.

Queuing for over an hour in the rain isn’t bad though when you finally take your seat at the start of the film but two bouts of queuing today were sadly fruitless as the hottest ticket so far, Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring proved just too popular. There’s still time to catch it later in the festival but I’m feeling slightly left out of conversations about the new buzz film.

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You only need to look at the jury for the 66th Cannes Film Festival too see it remains the world’s premiere film festival. It’s like a particularly starry episode of Stella Street, with the most famous of all film directors, Steven Spielberg chairing a jury that also features Nicole Kidman and recent Oscar winners, Ang Lee (Life of Pi) and Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained).

The film selection is equally star-studded, with Baz Luhrmann’s lavish The Great Gatsby (opening today in the UK) kicking off proceedings yesterday and new offerings featuring numerous stars including Ryan Gosling, Justin Timberlake and Emma Watson in various strands of competition.

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Star Trek Into Darkness has boldly gone where the previous Star Trek movie also went, to the top of the UK box office. An £8.4m opening, including £1.6m from previews, isn’t quite a warp speed start but it’s still significantly higher than the last Star Trek’s £6m three day start. The £6.8m Friday to Sunday weekend is the highest for any Star Trek film and the third highest of the year so far, behind Iron Man 3 and Les Misérables. The majority (59.5%) of Star Trek Into Darkness’ gross was from 3D presentations, which is higher than Iron Man 3 (53.3%).

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Once again, the leviathan that is Iron Man 3 dominated the weekend’s box office, amassing a further £6.3m from Friday to Sunday. Including Bank Holiday Monday, the Marvel blockbuster has a sensational cume of £26.2m. This performance is more akin to Avengers Assemble than any previous Iron Man film, which on its second weekend in May 2012 grossed £8.1m.

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DCM’S resident films specialist, Tom Linay, takes a look ahead in the release schedule and guides us through some of the upcoming romantic movies.

There’s also a distinctly romantic feel to May and June with an all-star romantic comedy released and three distinctive art-house titles that promise to make a notable splash with an upmarket female audience.

On 29 May, The Big Wedding unleashes its all-star ensemble on an affluent, female audience. The cast has all bases covered with mainstay stars Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton and Susan Sarandon and emerging talents such as Amanda Seyfried and Katherine Heigl.

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Olympus Has Fallen has risen to the top of the Box Office with a decent £2.2m opening (including £651k from previews). The first of the year’s White House set action films has set a solid benchmark which September’s White House Down will be looking to beat. It was the best opening for a live-action Gerard Butler film since 300 in 2007 (£4.7m).

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Tom Cruise is back on top as Oblivion flew to an impressive £5m five day opening, with £1.6m coming from Wednesday and Thursday previews. This is further confirmation that audiences still love to see Tom Cruise headlining major films.

The Croods had yet another strong hold, falling just a measly 15% to £2m and a spectacular cume of £22.7m. By this time next week it should have overtaken Wreck-It Ralph to become the highest grossing animated film of the year so far. In third spot, is the fifth installment in the Scary Movie franchise. An opening of £1.1m is the lowest in the series and a long way off from Scary Movie 3’s series best £3.5m debut.

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Yes, we have a spectacular selection of summer blockbusters on the horizon but this summer is also a dream for fans of comedies of all sizes. Fans of 2005 hit The Wedding Crashers will be particularly interested in The Internship (4 July). Reuniting Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn as two salesmen who have to take an internship (hence the title) at Google, it also features a cracking support cast including Rose Byrne and John Goodman, so expect box office to rival Vaughn and Wilson’s previous outing.

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