Oz: The Great And Powerful 3D dominated the box office this weekend with a fantastic debut of £3.7m, the third highest opening of the year so far. Compare this to the opening weekend of Charlie and The Chocolate Factory back in 2005 (£7.9m), Oz will be on release over the upcoming Easter break, giving it a chance to catch up with Charlie’s final box office taking of £37.2m.
In the second slot of the top five, Steven Soderbergh’s Side Effects began its run with a positive start, clocking up £905k. Soderbergh’s last thriller, Haywire, debuted with £864k in 2011. Read more
DCM likes to get out and about meeting our independent exhibitors and finding out what’s happening at your sites. Whether you’re running special events, alternative evenings or launching new facilities we’d love to hear from you. This week, DCM Close Up highlights the launch of Funky Fridays at the Genesis Mile End, a celebrity visit to the Hackney Picturehouse and the newly opened Komedia at Dukes space in Brighton. Send your news to Rebecca Rau for inclusion in a future DCM Close Up.
Genesis Mile End Read more
For the first time Advertising Week, which has been running for nine successful years in New York, is coming to Europe and making its debut in London from Monday 18 March. It’s testament to the talent and success of the UK’s creative industries that Advertising Week has chosen London as its base and DCM is proud to be a partner to celebrate and showcase the new power of cinema advertising.
Taking place at BAFTA, Advertising Week Europe will bring together more than 15,000 representatives from the creative industries and beyond with inspiring speakers such as Lord David Puttnam, Dave Brailsford, Sir Martin Sorrell, Lord Sebastian Coe, Frank Abagnale and DCM’s very own Simon Rees. Read more
Following the excitement of the London 2012 Games, the Olympic stadium will soon house music events with major summer concerts moving from Hyde Park in 2013.
Other venues including cinemas are looking for new and innovative ways to draw audiences. Using venues outside of their main purpose can attract new people, which means marketers can extend their brands’ reach through partnerships and sponsorships. Read more
Hutchinson 3 Mobile is on a roll with the new #Danceponydance creative currently playing in cinemas across the UK. The campaign has been created by Wieden + Kennedy, London and was booked by Mindshare.
The twittersphere is positively a buzz with people talking about a moonwalking Shetland pony called “Socks”, clocking up over 3,000 tweets so far using the hashtag “#Danceponydance”. Read more
Following the 85th Academy Awards ceremony last month, Digital Cinema Media's (DCM) Simon Rees shares his highlights and looks ahead to what promises to be another strong year for the film industry.
The great, the talented and the beautiful of the world's film industry gathered just over a week ago for the 85th Academy Awards, otherwise known as the Oscars. Some surprises were in store on an unpredictable evening, with the top categories (Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress) all going to different films. This demonstrates the variety and calibre of the films and acting talent in contention this year. Read more
This April is notable for two things that are great for cinema admissions: the bulk of the Easter school holidays and later in the month, the start of the summer blockbuster season. It may not feel like summer in late April but the first of the year’s big superhero films, Iron Man 3 3D is released on April 26 and after that the tent-pole releases come thick and fast.
Arty thrills and Ryan Gosling - Upmarket Dramas Read more
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters 3D defied the critics to top the box office this weekend with £1.5m (including £404k from previews). That compares very favourably with the tonally similar Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, which achieved £1.1m (including £375k from previews) in June of last year. A sizeable 90.7% of Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters 3D gross was from 3D presentations.
Wreck-It Ralph 3D dropped one place to second with £1.4m, which saw him comfortably break the £20m mark. Expect it to finish around Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted’s mark of £22.8m. Mama continued to perform strongly, easing just 30% to £1.1m and a healthy cume of £3.5m. A total in the region of £5m now looks very achievable. A Good Day To Die Hard experienced another sharp drop, with £824k and a cume just shy of £10m. It’s now certain to finish below Die Hard 4.0’s final total (£13.9m). The top five was completed by Nicholas Sparks’ adaptation, Safe Haven. An £812k opening was a little shy of the last Sparks adaptation, The Lucky One’s £1.2m opening last May but that had the star power of Zac Efron to propel it. Read more
From Nirvana sticksman to Foo Fighters frontman, and with a musical legacy spanning collaborations with Killing Joke, Queens of the Stone Age and Them Crooked Vultures, Dave Grohl has already achieved a career of legendary status in music. Sound City sees him turn his assured hand to directing, documenting the life of LA's legendary Sound City recording studio.
Opened by joint owners Joe Gottfried and Tom Skeeter in 1969, Sound City housed over four decades of recorded music, journeying a roller coaster ride of financial peaks and troughs along the way. The documentary is split into three parts opening with the history of the studio, progressing to the impact of technology and finishing with an emphasis on the principals of musical performance and songwriting. Read more
Speaking to our independent cinema colleagues recently, alternative content is a growing and thriving area on many of your schedules. Cinemas are not the only places looking for new and innovative ways to draw audiences. Using venues outside of their main purpose can attract new people, which means marketers can extend their brands’ reach through partnerships and sponsorships.
Following the excitement of the London 2012 Games, the Olympic stadium will soon house music events with major summer concerts moving from Hyde Park in 2013. Marketing Week’s Mindi Chahal, takes a look at what is arguably the biggest change in the use of a venue in recent years and how the trend is spreading in other spheres including cinema, read on for her coverage on events in our industry. Read more
He may been knocked off his perch last weekend but he made it back to the top a week later, Wreck-It Ralph 3D eased less than 1% to £3.4m and a hugely impressive cume of £18.6m. It’s only a matter of time before Ralph overtakes Tangled’s final total of £20.5m and closes in on Brave’s £22.6m.
A Good Day To Die Hard fell 50% (not including previews) to £1.6m and dropped to second place in the process. It now has a cume of £8.2m and it’s going to have a hard time overtaking Die Hard 4.0’s final total of £13.9m. Creepy horror Mama was the highest new entry, in third place with £1.5m. That’s an improvement over both Insidious’ and Sinister’s £1.4m debuts in 2011 and 2012, respectively. Both those films went on to gross over £6m. Read more
Late last night, the power brokers of the film industry met to recognise the best in the business at the 85th Academy awards, or to you and me, “The Oscars”.
Some surprises were in store on an unpredictable evening, with the top categories (Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress) all going to different films. This just shows the calibre of the films and talent in contention. Read more
