Last week, cinema exhibitors, technology experts and other representatives from the cinema industry convened at London’s Vue Westfield for the first ever UK Digital Cinema Conference, hosted by Digital Cinema Solutions, more than 250 delegates discussed the challenges and opportunities that have come with one of the biggest transitions in media history – the move from film to digital projection in cinemas.
The team from DCM took the opportunity to catch up with a number of exhibitor partners including Kevin Markwick from The Picture House, Uckfield, Jas Kapur from the Wolverhampton Lighthouse, Dorothy Smith from Ambleside Zeffirellis and Jason Valentine from the Letchworth Broadway. Read more
Wreck-It Ralph 3D duly smashed it this weekend. A £4.5m debut is the highest opening for a Disney animation since Tangled in 2011 (£5.1m) and is a big improvement on their February offering last year, The Muppets (£2.7m). Both those films finished comfortably over £15m, so expect the same from Wreck-It Ralph 3D.
The biggest film of the year so far, Les Misérables finally vacated the top spot after four weeks, falling to second and £1.6m. It has now grossed £33.5m and a finish in the high thirties is expected. British romantic comedy I Give It A Year made a solid start with £1.4m which compares favourably with the debut for The Five Year Engagement last year (£1.1m) and with Valentine’s Day arriving this Thursday, it should have a strong week. Read more
Argo was named Best Film at last nights EE British Academy Film Awards hosted by Stephen Fry, held at London’s Royal Opera House. Ben Affleck won the Director BAFTA and the film also took the Editing award.
Les Misérables won four BAFTAs, Production Design, Sound, Make Up & Hair and Supporting Actress for Anne Hathaway. Read more
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
