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. Read more
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. Read more
Cinemas across the UK are to broadcast live private viewings of the British Museum’s major exhibition Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum on 18 and 19 June.
The exhibition, which runs until 29 September, is the first ever held on these important cities at the British Museum. Focussing on the Roman home and lives of the people who lived nearly 2000 years ago in Pompeii and Herculaneum, the unique live broadcast event will take cinema audiences back in time in the company of renowned experts and practitioners who, alongside live performances of music, poetry and eye-witness accounts, will bring to life extraordinary objects, some never seen outside Italy before. Interviews throughout the exhibition will be intercut with stunning specially recorded films in Italy, showing Pompeii and Herculaneum and the sleeping Vesuvius. Read more
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%).
After two weeks of dominance, Iron Man 3 dropped to second spot, easing 50% to £3.2m and an imposing cume of £31.1m. It has smashed through the target set by the previous two Iron Man films (Iron Man 2 finished on £21.2m) and is setting a benchmark that other live action films this summer will struggle to beat. 21 & Over had an excellent hold, falling just 25% to £581k and a cume of £1.9m. By this time next week, it will have comfortably overtaken Project X’s final total of £2.2m. Read more
Digital Cinema Media and UM London has facilitated a deal for Prime Focus World to convert the Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey creative to immersive 3D for Brown – Forman. It will play in cinemas before Star Trek Into Darkness 3D, which is predicted to take over £25m at the UK Box Office and generate over 4m admissions.
The creative, developed by Arnold, uses the surround sound capabilities of cinema to make the audience feel enveloped by a swarm of bees and then opens on a highly detailed visual of a Jack Daniels stylised bee, in fully rendered 3D. Read more
May and June have some huge releases appealing to a male dominated audience, including Star Trek Into Darkness 3D, Fast & Furious 6, The Hangover Part III and Man of Steel 3D.
The trend carries on for Q3 with high octane movies perfect for a male audience coming thick and fast. Read more
Last week, DCM and Pearl & Dean partnered to present a week of events for Carat on Redefining Cinema.
The programme of events included an introduction to the week from DCM's Simon Rees, CEO and Joe Evea, Commercial Director and Kathryn Jacob, Chief Executive of Pearl & Dean. They jointly delivered a “state of the nation” session, showing the progress of cinema since switching to digital and the possibilities now available to advertisers using the big screen, such as flexibility in campaign start dates, the ability to book by the day and make copy changes. Read more
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.
With strong competition from Star Trek Into Darkness from this Thursday onwards, an Avengers sized final total of £50m looks out of reach for Iron Man 3 but £40m is achievable and would be a fantastic result. Read more
The Tivoli Theatre in Wimborne was built in 1936 as a combined cinema theatre and the tradition of showing both films and live stage shows continues to the present day. Big audiences for major shows were traditional at the Tivoli and the theatre has once again achieved the status of a major 500 seat venue. Local people enjoy the finest and latest films available with full surround sound.
DCM Close Up spoke to the Tivoli’s Theatre Manager, Charlie North Lewis, on his career in cinema and why the Tivoli has become such an integral part of the local Wimborne community. Read more
Showcomotion Young People’s Film Festival returns to the Showroom Cinema in Sheffield from Saturday 6 to Sunday 21 July with another terrific line-up of film screenings for schools and families. The first weekend of public screenings kicks off on Friday 12 July with a special preview of From up on Poppy Hill, the new film from the renowned Japanese animators, Studio Ghibli, due to be released in the UK in August. It is a beautifully animated coming-of-age love story set in 1963 as Japan reinvented itself after the devastation of World War Two.
The festival selects a diverse and innovative range of films produced for young people, which would not otherwise be screened in the UK. Priority is given to films representing the lives of children from around the world and addressing issues which are pertinent to groups of young people. The festival was developed in response to the lack of culturally diverse films for young audiences being distributed in the UK other than big budget American product. The festival recognises and celebrates cultural diversity but also universality within experiences of childhood. Films from Iran, Russia, Latvia, Germany, Spain, The Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and France have been shown during Showcomotion. UK production for this audience is also limited particularly when compared to other European countries such as Sweden and Denmark or indeed less wealthy countries such as Iran. The festival strives to show UK films made for a young audience. Read more
Smart brands will find plenty of big films in the coming months to associate themselves with, Tom Linay writes.
Sundance, the foremost festival for independent cinema, returned to London last week, kick-starting what promises to be a spectacular summer of film. Hosted by Cineworld at The O2, with its founder, Robert Redford, in attendance, it featured a host of titles that made waves at the parent festival in Utah in January. Read more
Hello Exhibitors,
How quickly the months go past. It’s my blog time again. Read more
