The Croods was the big Easter winner, easing just 6% (when previews are removed) to £3.3m and a very healthy ten day total of £10.6m. This is ahead of the animation benchmark set by Brave 3D last year.
G.I. Joe: Retaliation 3D was the best performing newcomer, easily outstripping the first GI Joe film with £2.8m (including £890k from previews). Read more
Film director Martin Scorsese has made an impassioned plea for young people to embrace the rich cinema heritage of America before it disappears.
The 70-year-old Oscar-winning director of films such as Raging Bull, Goodfellas and Taxi Driver, was delivering the annual Jefferson Humanities lecture at the John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts in Washington. Read more
Hello Exhibitors,
Here we are coming towards the end of March and with no sign of spring appearing on the horizon. I am wondering where spring has gone. In spite of the cold, perfect cinema going weather, admissions in February dipped 8.8% to14m. Read more
Although May to July is traditionally known as Summer blockbuster season, this year sees an unusually high number of upmarket arthouse releases. Coming out on the same weekend as Iron Man 3 (April 26) are two all-star features with a strong comedic slant. Bernie earned a Golden Globe nomination for Jack Black’s performance and is a black comedy about a mortician who strikes up a friendship with a wealthy widow. The Look Of Love reunites Steve Coogan with director Michael Winterbottom (24 Hour Party People, The Trip) and tells the story of Paul Raymond who was once the richest man in the UK and known as the King of Soho.
A week later sees the return of one of Europe’s most distinctive auteurs, Pedro Almodovar, with comedy set aboard an airliner, I’m So Excited. Mud was a hit at Cannes last year and with Matthew McConaughey experiencing a career renaissance, expect a strong performance from May 10. Read more
The Croods 3D proved a prehistoric sized hit this weekend opening with a sizeable £5.4m (including £1.9m from previews). The Friday to Sunday total of £3.5m puts it just behind Oz: The Great And Powerful in fourth place in the biggest opening weekends of the year. 44.9% of The Croods’ gross came from 3D presentations.
Another big family film opened in second spot as fantasy epic, Jack The Giant Slayer 3D debuted with £1.6m. Although that’s a disappointing start, the upcoming Easter holidays should provide a boost. Oz: The Great And Powerful 3D made it a trio of family films in the top three as a further £1.3m took its cume to £10.1m. Read more
Congratulations to the Gala Cinema in Durham on its conversion to digital last week.
The centrepiece of Durham’s arts programme, the Gala Theatre, is situated in a beautiful, purpose-built, £15m building on the banks of the River Wear in the heart of this historic city. The venue houses a state-of-the-art modern theatre, spacious and comfortable café-bar, two cinema screens and superb conference facilities. Read more
DCM Tuesdays made it to event number ten this week and celebrated with our biggest screening yet. In conjunction with the inaugural London AdWeek, we screened stylish Brit thriller Welcome To The Punch to a packed audience at the May Fair Hotel and preceded it with a Q&A with the film’s producer Rory Aitken.
Punch is a muscular action thriller that makes fantastic use of its stunning London locations. Performances from the British cast, including James McAvoy, Mark Strong, Andrea Riseborough and David Morrissey, are strong and the ambition shown by a group of young British film-makers (this is director Eran Creevy and producers Ben Pugh and Rory Aitken's second feature film) should be given the highest praise. Read more
Oz: The Great And Powerful 3D had a solid hold at the top of the box office, easing just 30% to £2.6m and a cume of £7.7m. Alice In Wonderland also experienced a decline of 30% on its second weekend. A solid hold suggests strong word of mouth for Oz and bodes well for the coming weeks.
Side Effects was once again in second place, easing a very strong 16% with £759k for a cume of £2.3m. Over the next couple of days it will overtake the final total of Steven Soderbergh’s last thriller, Haywire, which finished on £2.34m. The highest new entry in third spot was stylish London-set thriller Welcome To The Punch with a well-known cast, including James McAvoy and Mark Strong, debuted at £460k. Read more
In the packed Run Run Shaw theatre at BAFTA, Andy Law of Fearlessly Frank led the DCM workshop, The Art Of Cinematic Storytelling, including Asif Kapadia, Director of Senna and The Warrior, Mike Bennett, CEO/Founder of OIL Studios and Ed Edwards, Creative Director, Writer and Director at Havas Worldwide.
The session was kicked off with a video showcasing the favourite adverts and moments in cinema from the panel, including two creative's from Benson and Hedges (Salvage and Iguana) and the Guardian “Points of View” creative, along with iconic moments from Goodfellas, The Godfather Part Two, Once Upon A Time In The West and Notting Hill. Read more
The WIRED global conversation panel, including DCM’s own Simon Rees, Sir John Hegarty, the H of BBH, and moderated by Rupert Turnbull, Publisher, WIRED, took place on The Agenda Stage in the Princess Anne Theatre at BAFTA this morning.
The conversation covered mobile advertising, creativity in education, “STEM v’s STEAM”, the importance of data, the role of the editor and transparency. Read more
Asif Kapadia is the visionary director responsible for hits such as Senna and The Warrior. He is highly regarded in the industry and has the "brass" to prove it (awards including the coveted London Film festival Sutherland Award and BAFTA's for Best Documentary and Best Editing).
Asif will be part of the DCM workshop, "The Art Of Cinematic Storytelling" at Advertising Week Europe. Ahead of this, Advertising Week's Doug Zanger interviewed Asif on his origins in film and what he loves most about cinema. Read more
Volkswagen has renewed its partnership with DCM to own the gold spot on more than 330 independent cinema screens nationwide, reaffriming the pledge that "Volkswagen supports independent cinema". The deal will run for two years and has been brokered by DCM and MediaCom, with creative provided by adam&eveDDB.
The gold spot is the last piece of content before a film begins in cinemas, making it the most highly sought-after position. Volkswagen will be running the latest idents from its ‘See Film Differently’ initiative alongside its national brand campaign idents e.g. the latest ‘Polo Dad’ campaign, both by adam&eveDDB. Read more
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