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
This week, DCM'S resident film specialist, Tom Linay, takes a look ahead at the release schedule and guides us through some of the upcoming romantic movies. Luxury brands, along with Cosmetics and Fashion may consider these films to reach their target market out of home.
There’s a distinctly romantic feel to May and June with an all-star romantic comedy releasing and three top-drawer art-house titles that promise to make a notable splash with an upmarket female audience. Read more
The box office received a Stark boost this weekend as Iron Man 3 rocketed to the top. The Marvel blockbuster debuted with a mammoth £13.7m, including £2.3m from Thursday previews. That’s by far the biggest opening for an Iron Man film. The first instalment achieved £5.5m and Iron Man 2, £7.7m. It’s getting into Avengers Assemble territory, which took £15.8m in its first weekend (including £2.5m from previews) almost exactly a year ago. It’s also the 18th best opening of all time in the UK.
Unsurprisingly, the rest of the top 15 took a bit of a hit with Iron Man 3 opening so impressively, but Olympus Has Fallen continued to perform strongly with £913k taking its cume to just over £4m. Read more
Every year, the San Francisco International Film Festival invites a well-known public figure to talk about the intersecting worlds of contemporary cinema and visual arts, culture and society, images and ideas. Past speakers have included Jonathan Lethem, Walter Murch, and Brad Bird. This year, Steven Soderbergh (Ocean's Eleven and Magic Mike) took the stage.
Speaking about cinema versus movies, he compared the relationship to auteurs versus studios. He told the audience that art will always be a human need, as humans have always needed to tell stories. Read more
Riverside Studios is a unique arts and media centre on the banks of the Thames in Hammersmith, comprising two main performance studios, a cinema, TV studio and production galleries, numerous offices and a large contemporary Restaurant and Bar, Film Café and River Terrace.
DCM Close Up spoke to the Riverside’s Cinema Director Shira MacLeod on her career in the arts and what’s coming up at one of London’s most eclectic venues. Read more
Olympus Has Fallen has risen to the top of the Box Office with a decent £2.2m opening (including £651k from previews). The first of the year’s White House set action films has set a solid benchmark which September’s White House Down will be looking to beat. It was the best opening for a live-action Gerard Butler film since 300 in 2007 (£4.7m).
Oblivion dropped to second spot with a further £1.7m, a total which would have been enough to hold on to the top spot had it not been for Olympus Has Fallen’s previews. The stylish Sci-Fi epic has now grossed £8.1m and should have no trouble overhauling the final total of Tom Cruise’s last star vehicle, Jack Reacher (£9.5m). Evil Dead possessed third spot with £1.4m (including £288k from previews). In terms of recent horror remakes, that’s above Texas Chainsaw 3D (£1.2m), The Thing (£486k) and Fright Night (£682k). Read more
Digital Cinema Media (DCM) joined more than 5,000 movie industry professionals from around the world in Las Vegas last week for the annual CinemaCon event. It was inspiring, energising and slightly scary to spend a week in the company of the biggest stars, producers, directors, studio executives and cinema owners, with all of us coming together to preview upcoming films and debate all facets of the motion picture and cinema industry – from exhibition, concessions, technology and distribution, to marketing, advertising and social media.
The tone was set on Day One when Paramount kicked off the event with writer and producer Damon Lindelof introducing the new Star Trek Into Darkness 3D film and its star cast members including Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, John Cho and Alice Eve. The famous Caesar’s Colosseum was kitted out with the latest Dolby Atmos sound system which combined with 18 minutes of exclusive 3D footage from the upcoming film really showed off the latest cinema technology. Read more
Robert Redford’s Sundance film festival is back in London for the second year this week, as a four-day stint at The O2 between 25 and 28 April. As well as the UK premières of American independent films fresh from the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, there will be panel discussions and filmmaker Q&A’s. The line-up also features a series of music gigs, making the event a real intersection between the arts.
The Feature Film programme includes 2013 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Documentary Prize winner Blood Brother and In a World…, Lake Bell’s hilarious directional feature debut and winner of the 2013 Sundance Film Festival Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award; as well as Muscle Shoals with Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Gregg Allman, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Alicia Keys, Bono and others bearing witness to the greatest untold American music story about the legendary Alabama recording studio. Read more
