The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is to stream its upcoming production of Richard II starring former Doctor Who actor David Tennant live in cinemas this November.

The sold-out performance of the show on 13 November will be broadcast in real time from Stratford-upon-Avon on the big screen, while a recording will also be beamed direct into 1000 schools on November 15. With all advance theatre tickets already snapped up ahead of the October opening, cinema will take the production to a fan-base that would otherwise have missed out.

“We want to bring the work we make… to the widest possible audience,” said RSC artistic director Gregory Doran. “Taking our productions live into cinemas and direct into schools is the next logical step.”

Richard II, which tells of a king whose vanity and weakness threatens to drag England into a dynastic civil war, runs in Stratford from 10 October to 16 November before transferring to the Barbican in London in December.

Members of the creative team, including Doran and Tennant, will take part in a live online Q&A as part of the initiative. Two further RSC Shakespeare plays will be filmed live during 2014, the titles of which will be announced in September.

Tennant previously worked with the RSC on its hit 2008 production of Hamlet, also directed by Doran, which was recorded and transmitted to worldwide TV audiences to critical acclaim.

Speaking to the Guardian, Doran said it was “very important” that a way was found to “re-imagine” the production for a cinema audience. “It mustn’t just be like having a security camera peering at the stage,” continued the director, who took over from previous RSC chief Michael Boyd last year.

The cinema version of Richard II will also be seen in North America, Australia, Japan and Europe and will be streamed to 1,000 schools in the UK.

Click here for full details on RSC Live from Stratford-upon-Avon and its programme of live broadcasts to cinemas around the world from Shakespeare’s home town.

In the coming months there really is something for everyone in UK cinema, Family Fun, Fashionistas and Screenagers. DCM has put together a number of packages to help brands target these valuable audiences.

First up, the “Back to School with DCM” package, which can help your brand reach the family unit. Why families? They account for a hefty 79m admissions per year, 49% of total admissions (Source – FAME 2013) and 92% make sure they are seated before anything is shown on screen (source – FAME 2013). One of the movies making up this package offering is The Smurfs 2 3D, which is predicted to generate over 2m admissions at the box office.

Cinema provides your brand with the ultimate boutique platform to deliver fashion content. With this in mind, DCM has handpicked sites situated in key urban areas to deliver a premium cinema experience around London Fashion Week (13 September to 10 October 2013).The “High Fashion to High Street” package is predicted to generate 311,488 admissions.

What better upcoming movie to target this fashion savvy audience than The Bling Ring? From Sophia Coppola, this releases 5 July and is inspired by actual events. A group of fame-obsessed teenagers uses the internet to track celebrities’ whereabouts in order to rob their homes of luxury goods.

The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones hits UK cinema screens 23 August and is perfectly positioned to target 15-19 year olds. This audience spends one third of its day looking at a screen (mostly a smartphone) and 98% are cinemagoers. The “Screenagers Package” offers a brand the opportunity to target this audience, in the first two weeks of release for seven youth releases, netting an estimated 4.1m admissions.

For more information on DCM packages, please contact info@dcm.co.uk.

After Earth didn’t quite crash land but definitely struggled to take off this weekend as it debuted in the top spot with £2.2m. Although that’s relatively low for the former undisputed box office king, Will Smith, in terms of director M. Night Shyamalan’s recent output it’s his biggest opening since The Village in 2004 (£2.9m).

The Hangover Part III dropped a place and 61% to second, perhaps suffering due to the sunny weather. Despite that, a further £1.1m takes the comedy blockbuster to £16.2m. It is now almost certain to be the lowest performing film in the series but it’s still a respectable performance.

Fast & Furious 6 also experienced a big drop this weekend, falling 59% to £847k, however it crossed the £23m mark in the process and has already grossed almost £5m more than the previous entry in the series.

Epic was in fourth spot with £665k. The family animation now has a cume of £11.2m and has one more weekend before the blockbuster behemoth that is Despicable Me 2 is released and hoovers up most of the family admissions.

The Great Gatsby completed the top 5, experiencing the best hold of the big films, falling 49% to £658k and a cume of £13.6m. Although Moulin Rouge’s final total of £18.5m is out of reach, Gatsby is comfortably Baz Luhrmann’s second biggest film in the UK.

A few new entries made their bow in the lower end of the top 10, with Liberace biopic, Behind The Candelabra performing the best of them in eighth spot with £513k. The weekend’s biggest disappointment was The Last Exorcism: Part II, which could only manage a £116k opening, almost a tenth of the original Last Exorcism’s £1.1m opening in 2010.

Overall on a weekend of mostly sunny weather, the box office was down 32% from last weekend and 30% from the same weekend last year when Prometheus and Snow White And The Huntsman continued to perform strongly. With Man of Steel flying into cinemas on Friday, expect the box office to see a significant upturn from next weekend.

In the US, low budget horror The Purge debuted to an amazing $36.4m, which is an incredible result from a reported $3m production budget. In second place, Fast & Furious 6 dropped 44% to $19.8m and to date has grossed $202.9m. By next weekend it will have become the highest grossing film in the franchise.

Third spot was taken by Now You See Me, which fell 34% to $19.5m and now has a cume of $61.4m.

Big name comedy The Internship opened in fourth place with $18.1m and the audience was split evenly between men and women and 61% 25 and over. Epic completed the top five with $12.1m and after three weekends has grossed $84.2m.

Forest Laboratories UK Ltd, owner of Forever Ink, chose cinema to reach its target audience, 18-35 year olds, by taking advantage of the appointment to view nature of cinema to drive sales and raise awareness of this new product. It is playing before films such as Star Trek Into Darkness 3D, Fast & Furious 6 and The Hangover Part III.

Recall of cinema ads has been proven to be eight times higher than TV per single exposure* and cinemagoers are 10% more likely to recommend products they’ve seen or heard advertised^†.

Forever Ink is the UK’s first premium skincare range with unique formulations designed specifically for the care of new and existing tattoos.

Roopa Malhotra, Senior Product Manager at Forest Laboratories UK Ltd, said: “We chose to use cinema to promote Forever Ink as it offers a highly impactful, yet cost-effective way to reach our target audience.”

Joe Evea, Commercial Director at DCM, said: “Cinema advertising is now more accessible than ever before. While lead times have been cut from four weeks to five days and production slashed to a fifth of the cost, cinema still remains the most impactful, immersive medium and it is fantastic that Forever Ink has chosen to work with DCM on this exciting campaign.”

The made for cinema creative will lead a media campaign from Forest Laboratories UK Ltd, including VOD, Digital and Press. The cinema screen time was booked by TCS Media.

* – CAA/RedBlue ‘Impacts’ Research 2007. ‘Proven recall’ scores

† – IPA Touchpoints media consumption against likelihood to recommend advertising seen or heard via any media platform

Hello Exhibitors,

It’s the first week of June and summer seems to have finally started at the weekend after a month of May that felt like winter.

It’s a shame the film product wasn’t quite as strong as expected in April as the weather was definitely with us.

There are still a lot of digital installations taking place and it feels all the more pleasing for those Exhibitors who have fought tooth and nail to raise the necessary funds to invest in digital projection. In the last month we saw Scarborough McCarthy go digital, as did Burleigh Ibbot at The Luxe Wisbech. We were also really pleased to hear about the installation at Ely Cinema taking place in July, a full seven months ahead of schedule. Meanwhile, Raj Jayasingham at Alton Palace has just installed his second digital screen providing patrons with an all-digital site.

Massive applause for Martina O’Connor at Frome Westway who, following all her fundraising efforts, will go digital in the middle of June. Well done Martina! I also spoke with Penny Bicknell, at The Lymington Centre, who is now very optimistic about going digital this summer. And not to be outshone, Mark Barnes at Chesham Elgiva has informed me that they will be going digital by mid-August. At the time of writing too is news from the Guildhall at Gloucester which has received quotations and will be converting in the summer.

The digital revolution has allowed us Media Execs to offer real competition against all other media. It means we can retain all of our incredible intrinsic advantages as a medium, but now with the added advantage of immediacy and flexibility. Now all we need is the beloved economy to pick up and the marketing personnel to be sparked with optimism and begin spending against their brands and services. Let’s look for those green shoots!!

April admissions were disappointing at 11.8m but thank heaven for the massive January result which has allowed us to keep in touch with last year’s results. This means we are only just 3.3% down on the year so far with a total of 53.8m admissions.

Iron Man 3 and The Croods, backed up by Oblivion, provided the backbone for April.  However the success last year of the Avengers Assemble and Titanic 3D during the Easter hols assisted April 2012 to a figure of just above 15m admissions which we couldn’t live up to this year.

I enjoyed Star Trek Into Darkness, which was nothing like I expected.  My favourite genre, Science Fiction, seems to be in vogue at the moment with the trailers I have viewed just recently looking very good. Let’s hope that this product converts into really strong admissions.

Sorry to end on a gloomy note but I have just heard of the very sad news on the passing of Gerry Parkes after a long fight against illness. I was so pleased he managed to receive his MBE before the end as this was such a wonderful tribute to Gerry for all his hard work and enthusiasm throughout his career.

He was a great man and character and will be sorely missed by everyone. We at DCM send our sincere condolences to Denise and Gerry’s family. Be assured his legacy will never be forgotten.

My best wishes Exhibitors and here’s hoping for some good business in the month to come.

David

This week Mark Welberry, Operations Director at the Savoy Cinema in Nottingham is in the spotlight. Mark explains how the Savoy caters for the cinema tastes of the local student population and shares his favourite movies. If you’d like to feature your cinema in a future issue of DCM Close Up, please email Rebecca.Rau@dcm.co.uk

How did you end up working in cinema and what do you love about it?

It wasn’t a career I’d thought of. In fact at the point it happened I still had no clue what I wanted to do with my life. It was a case of being in the right place at the right time. In 2001/02 I had been travelling after I finished University and when I returned I saw an ad in the local paper for a cinema manager at the new multiplex being built in the town centre. Unable to resist my charisma and good looks I was employed by James and Pat Collington and I haven’t looked back since. I love the buzz in the industry, there’s always something to look forward to and no two days ever seem to be the same. You also make some great friends that all share the same passion for films.

Mark Welberry, Operations Director at Nottingham’s Savoy Cinema

What’s unique about your cinema?

That it’s still open! We must be one of the only independent cinemas that has a Cineworld a mile away on one side of us and a Showcase a mile away on the other. The Nottingham site is very different to our other two sites in that it’s a very old-school cinema.  It opened in 1935 and still retains the original look both on the inside and outside of the building.

Please tell us about any special events or screenings you run at your cinema.

Our customer base comes from many demographics but we are right in the middle of studentland so we run a lot of films for student groups and show a lot of old classics. Our Top Gun special screenings always sell out! We’ve done a few live comedy shows as well, including Simon Bird hosting a sellout comedy quiz show.

What excites you most about the future of the cinema industry?

It’s exciting times and at the forefront of this excitement are DCM’s plans to maximise revenue on a digital platform.

What is your favourite movie and why?  

I always find this a tough question as there are so many great films. The Matrix would be close but the one that has always stood out for me would be Gladiator. It was a couple of years before I entered the industry but it has always been the benchmark that I’ll compare films to in terms of quality.

What film role would you like to play why?

For a short while, probably the first 70% of the film, I wouldn’t mind playing the part of Juan Antonio….. But I’d love to be the ‘one’ so I’d go with Neo in The Matrix.

What do you think are the most iconic cinema ads and why?

The one that sticks with me from childhood and through the 90s is Pearl & Dean’s Asteroids opening.

The Savoy Cinema

Is there anything else that you would like to add about your cinema or yourself?                      

It’s a great honour to be working for the UK’s Premier Independent Cinema Operator!

This Hangover shows no sign of going away any time soon, as part three in the comedy series held on to the top spot for a second week and the top three remained unchanged. After last week’s previews are removed, a drop of 40% to £2.9m is a decent hold for The Hangover Part III and much stronger than the 62% drop the film experienced on its second weekend in the US. After 10 days it has now grossed £13.5m and is comfortably the highest grossing live-action comedy of the year so far.

Second place was once again taken by Fast & Furious 6, which managed another £2.1m for a huge cume of £21.5m. With Fast Five having set a series best of £18.5m, the franchise is growing in popularity and the sixth instalment looks set to get close to £25m.

Epic held on to third and once last week’s previews are removed, actually improved its weekend total, with a 13% leap to £2m. With a cume of £10m, the animated adventure has clearly benefitted from a lack of other family titles in cinemas at present.

In fourth spot with £1.3m was Star Trek Into Darkness, which crossed the £23m mark on Sunday, while The Great Gatsby crossed the £12m mark, also with a further £1.3m.

In sixth spot was the highest new entry, horror thriller The Purge. It’s the second consecutive horror that Ethan Hawke has starred in, with the last, Sinister, opening with £1.4m in October.

The weekend’s only disappointment was all-star comedy, The Big Wedding which, despite being the only film of its type currently on release could only manage £596k (including £201k from previews).

Two art-house titles opened at the lower end of the top 15 with British vampire thriller Byzantium debuting with £114k and French period comedy, Populaire with £106k. Overall the box office was down 29% from last weekend and 26% from the same weekend last year when Prometheus and Snow White and the Huntsman opened.

In the US, Fast & Furious 6 held on to the top spot but experienced a sharp decline, falling 65% to $34.5m. After 10 days it has now earned $170.4m and is on track to eclipse Fast Five’s final total of $209.8m. In second place, and the highest new entry, was magician caper Now You See Me, which opened to an impressive $28.1m. The audience was 51% female and 52% under 30.

Sci-fi adventure After Earth disappointed in third place with $27m, which is almost slap-bang in between last year’s sci-fi flops John Carter ($30.2m) and Battleship ($25.5m). The audience was 51% male and 60% were 25 years of age or older. Star Trek Into Darkness and Epic tied for fourth place with $16.4m. Into Darkness now has a cume of $181.2m, while Epic has grossed $65.2m.

The newly refurbished Picturedrome Cinema in Bognor Regis was transformed into a 1920s cocktail lounge for a Great Gatsby inspired party at a Grand Gala Night on Friday 17 May.

Bognor Regis Town Council, which owns the building, teamed up with Adam Cunard, MD of the operating company, to showcase the result of all their efforts in refurbishing the building, both inside and out. The once shabby dark and rundown venue has been transformed back to the splendour of its heyday, with new seats and carpets, digital projection and revamped kiosks.

The main auditorium now looks resplendent having been repainted in its original pink and gold to pick out the fine Art Deco architectural features which had been obscured by years of dirt and neglect. The exterior of the building has been cleaned and repaired to replace the beautiful coloured stained glass canopy, and the distinctive round glass tower is now transparent, illuminated  and displaying a revolving sign that can be seen for miles around.

A full house of invited guests turned out in style to watch The Great Gatsby. As they entered the foyer via the red carpet, they were announced by the Toastmaster in his livery, and introduced to waiting dignitaries, including the Mayor, before being handed a cocktail or a glass of champagne and canapés.

Invitations suggested 1920s dress, and the guests had certainly taken it seriously; there were some stunning outfits on show, and a plethora of feather boas, beads and headbands, sequins and fur.

A wonderful evening was had by all, and it was a great opportunity to show off the stunning results of all the hard work and investment which went into making the Picturedrome cinema a building to be proud of, hopefully for many years to come.

I’m not sure at exactly what point over the last couple of years London became THE city for major film world premieres, but I’m delighted it has. Sunday  was the turn of Brad Pitt’s apocalyptic zombie thriller, World War Z, to premiere in Leicester Square. Underlining the stature of the event, Pitt was in attendance with his wife, Angelina Jolie, and folks, it doesn’t get more A-list than that.

As for the film, it’s based on the brilliant book by Max (son of Mel) Brooks and covers the outbreak of a mysterious virus that has turned much of Earth’s population into zombies. The remaining survivors are left with a relatively short task-list: one, somehow survive and two, find a cure. After securing a safe haven for his family, former UN worker Gerry Lane, played by Pitt, is tasked with the second part of that list.

This involves flying from New Jersey to South Korea to Jerusalem and finally to Cardiff (yes, really), to locate either the first victim or an alternative, initially less obvious, remedy. Each location Pitt stops at features a major set-piece where he and his various aides encounter another set of rampaging, marauding and other verbs that connote mass panic, zombies. We’re talking zombie numbers on a hitherto unseen scale. Zombies, thousands of them.

Essentially, World War Z is these four set-pieces strung together by less involving expositional scenes but when the set-pieces are as brilliantly staged and nail-bitingly tense as they are here, it’s impossible to complain. Each one ups the ante on the one before and the extended finale set in a Welsh laboratory will have people causing major damage to cinema arm-rests.

If you’d previously heard or read anything about this film prior to release, it was more than likely about the troubled history and production. I’m glad to report any remnants from this are barely noticeable on screen and Pitt (also producer) and director Marc Forster have delivered an action-packed and, at times, thrilling spectacle which continues 2013’s already huge summer film slate.

The cinema industry has warmly welcomed last week’s announcement that, in future, screen advertising will no longer be subject to dual regulation through the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) and the Cinema Advertising Association (CAA).

Previously, cinema was the only medium subject to a dual clearance regime. With this change, the industry can fully embrace the opportunities that digitisation offers, while still maintaining the classification standards for film that the BBFC has delivered.

The UK Government, as a result of public consultation, believes that deregulation of cinema advertising is fully justified and is now looking at the best way to bring about the planned changes.

Until the plans are announced, cinema advertisers will continue to be required to submit copy for clearance to both the BBFC and the CAA.

The CAA has ensured that screen advertising is compliant with advertising codes of practice, and has worked alongside the BBFC for many years. Public protection will remain at the forefront of screen advertising regulation, and the CAA will continue to work with the Advertising Standards Association to ensure that the UK sector remains World-leading in this area.

Welcoming today’s announcement, CEA Chief Executive Phil Clapp said, ‘One of the many benefits of digitisation of the UK cinema sector will be the greater flexibility that it allows when it comes to screen advertising. This welcome announcement removes one of the key hurdles to the industry’s ability fully to realise that potential and compete on a level playing field with other media such as television and online.”

Head of Operations at Digital Cinema Media, Oliver Skelton, said, “Along with the wider cinema industry we welcome the announcement that, in future, screen advertising will no longer be subject to dual regulation. Cinema was the only medium subject to a dual clearance regime and we’ve been working in close collaboration with the Cinema Advertising Association (CAA) and CEA to enable us to fully embrace the opportunities that our digital business offers advertisers.”

The full Government announcement can be found here.