For people who love cinema as we do, 2014 so far has been a stunner. The awards season films have been the strongest for many years, with The Wolf of Wall Street, 12 Years a Slave and American Hustle wowing audiences throughout January and they continue well into February with Her and Dallas Buyers Club. For family audiences, one of the best animated films in recent times in The LEGO Movie is set to charm millions for the next few months and Mr Peabody and Sherman are providing able support.
As it’s Valentine’s Day, it seems as good a time as any to look at the films over the next few months that are perfect for the hopeless romantic in all of us. On March 21, British acting royalty, Kate Winslet returns in Labor Day. Queen Winslet stars opposite Josh Brolin in a tale of a single mother who forms a romantic bond with a mysterious wounded man who she offers shelter. Director Jason Reitman is the man behind Juno, Up In The Air and Young Adult, so expectations for this one are suitably high. Winslet also returns in April in Divergent. Limitless director, Neil Burger adapts this young adult fiction novel that looks like a potential new Hunger Games. Shailene Woodley and Theo James play the romantic leads. Read more
For the first time in three weeks, The Wolf of Wall Street failed to top the UK box office. The Scorsese hit dropped to third as a straight fight for the top spot took place between Mr.Peabody and Sherman and RoboCop.
Although the Friday to Sunday totals were close, the Twentieth Century Fox animation came out on top with £3.9m, which included £1.4m from previews. That’s a very impressive start, especially considering the pairing aren’t so well known in the UK, having made their debut as part of The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show in the US in the 1960s. Read more
After enjoying its most successful year ever in 2013, the Glasgow Film Festival (GFF) has announced some very special developments to complement the programme strands for the tenth annual festival, including pop up cinema installations and a salute to vintage Hollywood glamour. The festival runs from 20 February - 2 March 2014.
1939 was a very significant year for Hollywood cinema, widely regarded as Hollywood’s greatest year ever. A year which saw 365 films released, 80 million tickets a week were sold and the Best Picture award nominees at the 1939 Oscars were Gone With The Wind, Stagecoach, Wuthering Heights, Dark Victory, Love Affair, Goodbye Mr Chips, Ninotchka, Mr Smith Goes To Washington, Of Mice and Men and The Wizard of Oz. Rather than celebrating the achievement of an individual actor in the popular retrospective programme strand, this year, the GFF will be screening all of these films. Read more
Maxus put cinema in focus this week, with its #Maxuscinema sessions. The agenda included a presentation on the upcoming film slate for 2014, a research and insight session and the final session of the day covered of cinema innovations.
Tom Linay, DCM’s Film Specialist, with Cristina Duffy, Account Manager, Pearl & Dean, kicked of the days sessions, with an update on upcoming movies on the schedule for 2014, including The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Transcendence, Neighbours, Godzilla, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Maleficent and Edge of Tomorrow. Read more
A list of all changes to the UK cinema release schedule, as of the week commencing 03/02, follows below:
NEW TITLES ADDED TO SCHEDULE: Read more
For the third weekend in succession, the top two spots at the box office were taken by The Wolf of Wall Street and 12 Years a Slave. Martin Scorsese’s epic comedy had a strong hold, falling 34% to £2.4m and a cume of £15m. That puts it ninth on the list of biggest 18-cert films of all time and it will surely overtake Silence of the Lambs in fourth with £17.1m. The top two films in that list, Hannibal (£21.6m) and American Beauty (£21.3m), may be out of reach but if The Wolf Of Wall Street wins big at the upcoming Oscars and BAFTAs, it could get very close.
On its fourth weekend, 12 Years a Slave added £1.4m for a cume of £13.7m. It’s looking increasingly likely that Steve McQueen’s drama could overtake the final total of last year’s Django Unchained (£15.7m), which would be a terrific result that few people would have predicted a month ago. Third spot was taken by the highest new entry, Zac Efron comedy, That Awkward Moment, with £961k (including £184k from previews). That’s a vast improvement over both of Efron’s 2013 live-action releases, The Paperboy (£142k) and Parkland (£114k). Read more
A new report released via The Advertising Association reveals that, despite the critical role small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) play in supporting the UK’s economic recovery, only 30 per cent of these businesses invest in advertising, an activity which helps to stimulate competition, innovation and expansion.
“Advertising Pays 2: How advertising can unlock UK growth potential” – a report by business advisory firm Deloitte, commissioned by the Advertising Association – has found that although SMEs currently account for 50 per cent of jobs in the UK and 40 per cent of UK revenues, they represent just 18 per cent of total advertising spend. Read more
Once again, the awards contenders ruled the box office this past weekend, with The Wolf of Wall Street and 12 Years a Slave comfortably taking the top two spots against competition from a seasoned action hero.
Martin Scorsese’s epic comedy fell just 22% to £3.6m and after 10 days in cinemas, has grossed £10.9m. Remarkably, that already makes it Martin Scorsese’s second most successful film ever, having overtaken Shutter Island (£10.8m), and by this time next week it will be his most successful film ever, with The Departed’s £12.9m firmly in its sights. Read more
Lucy Shaw, Research and Insight Executive, Digital Cinema Media, submits her final roundup report from the Sundance Film Festival 2014 and shares her thoughts on her time in Park City, Utah.
If the sign of a good Sundance is falling asleep before your plane even leaves the runway, I can safely hold my hands up and say I had the best time ever. Twelve films, countless Diet Cokes and a sighting of Elijah Wood later, here is my final round up from the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. Read more
A list of all changes to the UK cinema release schedule, as of the week commencing 27/01, follows below:
RELEASE DATE CHANGES: Read more
HMV has launched its first theatrical advertising campaign in five years.
The nationwide campaign, planned by independent media agency the7stars, will coincide with the film awards season and a six-week 'HMV presents awards season' event in stores. The 30-second ad, which began running in cinemas from 31 January, showcases some of the most memorable award-winners including Schindler’s List, Titanic and last year’s Best Picture Oscar-winner Argo. Read more
Eric Lomax’s life is the subject of best selling novel, The Railway Man, which has recently been made into a movie, starring Colin Firth and Jeremy Irvine. The movie premiered at The Toronto International Film Festival, back in September 2013, but the first chance to see it in the UK was a special preview run from 3 January 2014 at The Maltings Theatre and Cinema in Berwick-Upon-Tweed, Eric Lomax’s home town.
What made this preview run even more special was the fact that stars Colin Firth and Jeremy Irvine, along with scriptwriters Frank Cottrell Boyce, Andy Paterson, and producer Bill Curbishley attended the first screening and stayed for a Q&A session with the audience after. Unusually, both actors were able to meet the man they were to portray in the film, which tells of his harrowing ordeal at the hands of the Japanese during the Second World War. Read more
