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| Author | Zoe Aresti |
It’s early-August. We’ve just had the hottest day since the last one and DCM's Content Business Director, Tom Linay, certainly doesn’t feel very Christmassy, but this is media and in our work lives at least, we’re all thinking about Christmas a bit. Tom outlines everything we have to look forward to in the world of cinema in the lead up to Christmas 2019...
The Lion King might be currently tricking people into believing you can train a meerkat to ride on the back of a warthog but we’re already looking ahead to whether Jumanji: The Next Level can really be as funny as Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle. Only time will tell. Last year was the busiest year for cinema admissions since 1971 and at the end of July admissions are up approximately 1% year-on-year. It’s another great year and Christmas, as always, is a bumper time of year for cinema but this year looks particularly bumper. You only have to look at the four blockbuster releases from 22 November until Christmas day to see that the finish to this year is exceptionally strong, perhaps the strongest finish to a year we’ve ever seen at the cinema.
While November has some high quality fare, including potential awards botherer The Aeronauts, thrilling racing drama with Le Mans ’66, and festive romcom Last Christmas, the barnstorming climax to the year really gets going with the release of Frozen II on 22 November. The first Frozen was a genuine phenomenon - a completely original Disney animation, it was a huge hit in the UK and is still the biggest animated film of all-time worldwide. Just think, since it’s release we’ve had Minions, Despicable Me 3, Finding Dory, Incredibles 2 and Toy Story 4, yet none have managed to topple Frozen. In this sequel, Anna, Elsa and Olaf return, along with a host of new songs that will be lodged in the public consciousness for months. It’s not just a family film either, we’re expecting this sequel to deliver 14 16-34 TVRs across its run.
Three weeks later we get to find out the answer to the question posed in the intro. It seems odd to say that Jumanji: The Next Level has a lot to live up to, but Welcome To The Jungle was such a surprise treat that expectations for this sequel are high. In what seems like a shrewd move, the main game characters are all representing different players – Dwayne Johnson is channelling Danny DeVito, while Kevin Hart is channelling Danny Glover. If you’ve not seen the first film, this won’t make much sense but for the rest of us, it sounds like a total treat.
Less than a week after Jumanji, things go galactic. Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker is the climax to the biggest trilogy in cinema - The Force Awakens is still by far the biggest film in UK history, while The Last Jedi is sixth in that list. J.J. Abrams returns to marshall the story to a thrilling conclusion and who doesn’t want to see what happens to Rey, Finn, Poe and Kylo Ren? The numbers involved in this one are huge, and we’re expecting 12 16-34 TVRs. Realistically, it’s the only film left in 2019 that has a chance of beating Avengers: Endgame’s final total of £89m to become the biggest film released in 2019. I wouldn't bet against it.
Finally, a day after Star Wars, there’s something completely different. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats is still the sixth longest running show in West End history, clocking up almost 9,000 performances. Tom Hooper directed Les Miserables to the big screen, so he knows a thing or two about transferring legendary stage shows to the cinema. He’s assembled an extraordinarily eclectic cast too – Dame Judi Dench, Taylor Swift, Sir Ian McKellen, Rebel Wilson, Idris Elba, Jason Derulo, while Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson gets the big moment of singing Memories. The early footage has got the internet awash with buzz. It’s sure to be memorable and caps a potentially record-breaking festive season.
The run-up to Christmas is the most important time of the year for brands and at this crucial time, cinema is stronger than ever.