Steve Davis, Head of Exhibition at DCM, continues his trip around the UK, this week stopping in Torquay for the second in the series of recent CEA meetings.
This week I write from the CEA Devon, Cornwall and West of England branch meeting in Torquay. The closed session is currently taking place, and my ears are burning a little… Read more
The 2014 Hippodrome Festival of Silent Cinema, which came to a close on Sunday 16th March, was the most successful yet, organisers have revealed. The five day Festival, which takes place at Scotland’s oldest purpose-built cinema, the Bo’ness Hippodrome, saw over 2,500 attendees at screenings, workshops and community events, including a record breaking 1,751 tickets sold for the 14 ticketed events, eight of which were completely sold out. The Festival offered a packed programme of big screen classics and forgotten gems, with live soundtracks from some of the world’s leading accompanists, including Neil Brand, Stephen Horne and The Dodge Brothers.
[caption id="attachment_8471" align="aligncenter" width="550"] The Dodge Brothers performing at A Beggars Life[/caption] Read more
The DCM team was out at Walker Media for the #WalkerCinema day, educating the agency on everything to know about cinema in 2014 and beyond. Sessions included ‘An introduction to cinema’, 'Research and insight', ‘The effectiveness of cinema’, ‘Mobile, innovation & sponsorship’ and the day was capped off with a film quiz, hosted by DCM’s Head of Film, Tom Linay.
Zoe Ibrahim, Account Manager, Digital Cinema Media, kicked off the #WalkerCinema day, with a session introducing 'Walkerites' to two specific cinemagoing audiences; Families and 15-34 Men. Read more
The UK public clearly felt the need for Need For Speed this weekend, as it accelerated to the top of the box office. The video game adaptation grossed £2m, including £470k from Wednesday and Thursday previews, and although it was never going to achieve Fast & Furious business, that’s a solid start. It’s also a promising start to Aaron Paul’s (Breaking Bad) career as a big screen leading man and we’ll see him again next weekend in A Long Way Down. With both a 2D and 3D release, 49.3% of Need For Speed’s total was from 3D presentations.
Second spot was taken by The Grand Budapest Hotel, which fell just 9% once previews are removed to £1.3m. Wes Anderson’s previous highest grossing live-action film was The Royal Tenenbaums, with £3.3m in 2002 and The Grand Budapest Hotel has already raced past that and currently sits on £4.1m, with the promise of much more to come. Read more
Digital Cinema Media (DCM) has partnered with D&AD to create and curate a bespoke ‘Inspired by Film’ programme. Launching at Advertising Week Europe, ‘Inspired by Film’ will kick off with a joint workshop on Thursday 3 April which will celebrate the close links between film and advertising.
The Advertising Week Europe workshop panel will discuss the influence of film on advertising and the continued importance of the cinema experience for brands and filmmakers alike. Read more
300: Rise of An Empire knocked the incumbent, The Lego Movie from the top spot this weekend past, with a debut of £2.76m. This is a strong opening, but it couldn’t surpass the original 300’s £4m opening in 2007. The Lego Movie continued to perform well in second place, taking £1.63m, bringing its cume to a whopping £28.8m in the process.
New release, The Grand Budapest Hotel made a cracking start with £1.5m. Directed by Wes Anderson, this is a huge improvement over his last movie, 2012’s Moonrise Kingdom, which finished with £2.1m and it looks all set to become his highest grossing live-action film in the UK, with The Royal Tenenbaums currently holding that title with £3.3m. Read more
A list of all changes to the UK cinema release schedule, as of the week commencing 10/03, follows below:
NEW TITLES ADDED TO SCHEDULE: Read more
As you read this I’ll be touching down ‘up North’ on the way to the Northern and Midlands CEA Members Meetings, being held in Leicester on 13 March. Rebecca Rau (DCM Account Manager), David Prosser (DCM Account Manager), Ian McKeag (DCM IT Guru) and I are looking forward to seeing all the DCM members in attendance.
The CEA meetings are a great place to catch up and network with Exhibitors and suppliers alike. The Maltings Theatre & Cinema of Berwick upon Tweed, Savoy Cinemas and Bristol’s Watershed are amongst those in attendance. There is a wide and varied agenda from F.A.C.T to Film Nation and from the BFI Film Audience Network to an apprenticeship proposal. Read more
This week DCM Close Up talks to John Cunningham, General Manager at Greenock’s West Coast Cinema about the role of his cinema in the community and shares some of his favourite things about the industry. Read more
With the first glimpse of more clement weather in the UK this weekend past, it can mean only one thing, summer blockbusters are just around the corner. Tom Linay, Head of Film at Digital Cinema Media (DCM), reports for The Huffington Post after he attended a preview of upcoming sci-fi spectacle, Edge of Tomorrow, starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt. He was also lucky enough to be invited to the Q&A with director Doug Liman after the preview. Read on for an exclusive view of one of the potential big summer hits.
It's around this time each year that invitations start coming in from the studios wishing to build excitement for their big summer films. The invites are to events that usually consist of some above average canapés followed by 20 or so minutes of 'exclusive' footage from the film and then a Q&A with key talent from the film. The pinnacle of such events was in April 2012 when Ridley Scott, Michael Fassbender, Noomi Rapace and Charlize Theron all took the stage at Vue West End to preview footage from the then upcoming and eagerly anticipated Prometheus. The buzz in the room was buzzier than a hornet in a bell jar. Read more
MEC put cinema firmly in the spotlight this week, with an entire day devoted to all the different aspects of the medium, including an overview of the cinema marketplace, a closer look at cinemagoers and their value to brands, a session devoted to upcoming movies in 2014 and an innovation session, covering off the concept of ‘Beyond the big screen’.
The overview of the cinema marketplace was hosted by DCM Agency Lead, Andrew Bishop, who took the assembled MEC staff through ‘a state of the union’ presentation on cinema. The cinema market has been in great health over the last year, with the UK & Ireland box office achieving the second highest year ever and its fifth consecutive year of over £1bn. The final year-end total of £1.17bn was only 1% behind the record high of 2012 and proves once again that the UK public loves going to the cinema. The final admissions total for last year was 165.5m, which is the eighth highest since 1971 and above average since 2000. This is testament to the all-round strength of the film slate throughout the whole of last year. Read more
Following on from The Wolf of Wall Street, The LEGO Movie became the second film this year to hold on to the top spot for three straight weeks. The blockbuster animation fell 45% to £3.3m, which is a strong hold considering the previous Friday had the distinct advantage of being a school holiday day. The Phil Lord and Chris Miller helmed comedy now has a huge cume of £26.7m, which already places it above Wreck-It Ralph, which was released at the same time last year and finished on £23.8m.
[caption id="attachment_8213" align="aligncenter" width="550"] The LEGO Movie[/caption] Read more
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