For the third week in a row the top two spots were filled by the same films. Les Misérables was number one for the fourth successive weekend, falling just 31% to £2.8m and crossing the magic mark of £30m in the process. It now sits on £30.1m and with a way to go yet is laying a strong early claim to be the biggest film of the year. Django Unchained held onto second spot easing 30% to £1.7m and has joined the limited club of 18-cert films to cross the £10m mark. It now sits on £10.3m and may have the legs to beat Pulp Fiction (£12.7m) and become Tarantino’s most successful film.
The highest new entry, landing in third spot was Denzel Washington thriller Flight. A £1.4m debut is a decent start and we’re seeing most awards films holding up very well from week-to-week so expect the same with this one. Proving this theory, Lincoln fell just 17% to £1.4m in fourth spot and after 10 days has grossed a solid £4.2m. Life Of Pi 3D rounded out the top five with yet another strong hold falling 24% to £843k and a magnificent cume of £27.3m. Read more
DCM has appointed Rob Tomalin as Head of Business Development, following the promotion of Joe Evea to Commercial Director. Rob will oversee a range of new multi-platform creative advertising possibilities in cinemas, opened up by the adoption of digital. In an initiative to bring brands closer to their audiences - before, during and beyond the cinema experience - he will also lead DCM’s new digital product development with a focus on media owner partnerships and sponsorship. Read on to find out more about Rob and what he plans to deliver to exhibitors.
Close Up: What do you love about cinema? Read more
Come 11th May 2013, one third of the Digital Cinema Media workforce will be stepping out of our comfort zone to embark on the, quite frankly, horrifying Rat Race Dirty Weekend.
We'll be switching our usual weekends of indulgence for two days of pain. Read more
Tom Shone, author, Culture, The Sunday Times, about Steven Spielberg's love of the cinema,
"He still goes to the movies - picks an out of the way cinema, sneaks in with his wife or kids after the lights have gone down, then disappears again as the credits roll. He always takes an aisle seat and buys no food or drinks for himself. He's just there for the film, or, more specifically, the film and its audience. He loves feeling the heat rise in the cinema during an especially exciting action sequence, or after a gag has rocked everyone back in their seat. Read more
Congratulations to all our exhibitors for making cinema a Blockbuster year in 2012. Fuelled by titles such as The Dark Knight Rises, Marvel’s Avengers Assemble and the record breaking Skyfall. UK and Ireland Box Office ticket sales exceeded the £1 billion mark for the fourth consecutive year, which equates to admissions of over 172 million people.
In a year dominated by landmark entertainment events in the UK, such as the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics, this is an impressive feat. The exact total across UK & Ireland was £1,172,037,248. Read more
The top two films from last weekend held on to their places and both experienced strong holds on another impressive weekend for the box office. The snowy conditions last week obviously hampered Les Misérables as it bounced back easing a miniscule 9% to £4m and a huge cume of £24.6m. On Saturday it overtook High School Musical 3 (£22.8m) and now the only musical ahead of it on the all-time list is Mamma Mia with £68.5m. Django Unchained fell just 14% to £2.4m and now has a cume of £7.2m. Despite opening lower than Inglourious Basterds, its final total of £10.9m looks very achievable.
In third spot was another awards hopeful and the highest new entry, Lincoln, with £1.7m. That’s a very solid start and as the BAFTAs and Oscars get closer, it should continue to perform strongly. Fourth place was taken by Life of Pi 3D, which crossed the £25m mark with a further £1.1m and now stands on a spectacular £25.9m, a total that would have put it 8 on the list of 2012’s biggest films. Another new entry rounded out the top five, with Zero Dark Thirty opening with £1.1m. That’s significantly more than Kathryn Bigelow’s last film, The Hurt Locker, which opened with £309k in 2009. Read more
Despite the snowy conditions across the country the strength of the films currently on release was more than enough to tempt people into the warmth of the cinema. Les Misérables was once again the top film easing 46% to £4.4m and a very healthy cume of £17.4m. That’s already more than the entire run of Chicago (£16.4m) and closing in on Moulin Rouge’s final total of £18.5m. The highest new entry, in second spot was Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained with £2.8m. That’s a bit lower than Inglourious Basterds’ £3.6m debut but the adverse weather conditions wouldn’t have helped. Kill Bill Vol. 2 also opened with £2.8m in 2004.
Life of Pi 3D was in third spot after experiencing a 49% drop to £1.2m. It has now grossed £24.1m, which would have placed it tenth on the Top 10 highest grossing films of 2012. In fourth place, The Impossible continued to perform strongly with a further £1.1m taking its cume to an impressive £9.1m. Gangster Squad rounded out the Top 5 with £792k for a cume of £3.9m. The only other new entry in the Top 10 was the 3D re-release of one of Pixar’s best-loved films, Monsters, Inc. 3D - £681k is a solid start and very close to Beauty and the Beast 3D’s £685k debut last May. Read more
Here’s the first round-up of news and features from DCM especially dedicated to Exhibitors. We’d love to hear from you about the type of information and articles that you would like to see in DCM Close Up, so please send us your thoughts and views. Over the weeks, we’ll also be focusing on some of the activities happening in local cinemas nationwide, so if you have anything coming up, please let us know and we’ll share your news. Read on for what’s happening at DCM and in cinema advertising this month.
In this issue Read more
DCM has partnered with Sony Digital Cinema and The Comedy Store in a world-first collaboration to bring stand-up to the big screen in a comedy club format to be sponsored by WKD.
This initiative sees DCM secure its first distribution deal for alternative content to be broadcast in cinemas nationwide that will allow comedy fans to enjoy iconic performances in their home town from one of the world’s best-loved comedy brands. “The Comedy Store: Raw & Uncut” kicks off on 22 February and will broadcast four full length, uncensored shows as live from the iconic comedy venue on Friday nights. Read more
DCM has created three new idents which aim to bring to life the “most emotionally impactful medium on earth”. Showing on nearly 3,000 cinema screens across the UK from this Friday (25 January), these short films are the most important creative expression of DCM’s new brand identity, which has been inspired by the company’s transition to digital last year.
DCM’s innovation consultancy Fearlessly Frank, who is working with the DCM team on a programme to reposition the business as a major new digital media platform, worked with long-time collaborator, renowned artist and designer Daniel Eatock, to help co-create the new idents and showcase the dynamic, emotive power of our medium. Production and post was managed by INTRO and the sound mix was handled by Jungle. Read more
Cinema continues to pull in the crowds and it is now thirteen consecutive weeks that the box office has been up on the equivalent weekend last year. Although a number of films delivered strong performances this weekend, by far the most impressive was blockbuster musical Les Misérables. It followed up its nine BAFTA nominations on Wednesday with an £8.1m opening. That’s the highest ever debut for a musical film and perhaps surprisingly, it’s Universal’s biggest opening weekend of all time. Last January the marquee theatre adaptation was War Horse but that could only manage a £3.9m opening.
Also boosted by its nine BAFTA nominations, Life Of Pi 3D once again continued its stunning performance easing just 30% to £2.3m and a cume of £21.9m. With the Oscars and BAFTAs both a few weeks away, expect that total to at least get very near £30m. Glossy crime drama Gangster Squad was in third place with £2.1m (including £275k from previews). That’s not far off from Public Enemies’ £2.2m debut in 2009. In fourth spot, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 3D edged even closer to £50m with £1.9m, taking its total to £48.5m. True life family drama, The Impossible rounded out the top five, continuing its strong run with another £1.9m taking its cume to £7.2m. One other new entry landed just outside the top 5, with 3D horror sequel Texas Chainsaw 3D opening with £1.2m (including £584k from previews). The last Texas Chainsaw film only managed £1.5m over its entire run in 2006. Read more
The Guardian & Observer’s new tongue-in-cheek ad campaign marks a new, bold direction for the newspaper group’s January marketing approach which has, in previous years, focused primarily on promotional giveaways. Devised by award-winning creative agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH), the cinema creative comprises 60’ and 30’ versions of a 3-minute film fronted by Hugh Grant, who was not paid for his involvement in the campaign.
Running on Fridays and Saturdays in January and February, the cinema spots have been booked to coincide with the on-sale dates of weekend editions over the course of the three week campaign. The media planning by PHD Networks draws on insight into the Guardian and The Observer readership, which is known be made up of light TV viewers, but includes cinema in its leisure pastimes. This makes Guardian News & Media one of the first advertisers to take advantage of cinema’s new flexibility to book spots by the day instead of by the week, following DCM’s recent switch to 100% digital. Read more
