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PARAMOUNT UNVEILS STREAMING SERVICE
TREK AND CO LEAD THE WAY
“YOU’RE A BIG FILM, BUT YOU’RE IN BAD SHAPE…
…GET CARTER HEADS BFI’S THIRD QUARTER…
THE BALLAD OF THE BAND
CHARTING NEW TERRITORY FOR GAME MOVIES
IN THE PINK
NETWORK FACES APOCALYPSE
BOMBS AWAY FOR ALTITUDE…
…AS SCORSESE HEADS DOC…
THE ONLY WAY IS UP
BBC BRINGS UNSEEN SUNSHINE
CAGED, RELEASED
DOING BIRD
AT THE MOVIES
TWEET OF THE WEEK
TRAILERS OF THE WEEK
Paramount has confirmed its official start date for its streaming service in the UK and Ireland, with June 22 earmarked as the big day for the eagerly awaited launch. The move came as the studio outlined its global expansion strategy during an earnings call for the first quarter on May 3. The device will be available at ttps://www.paramountplus.com/,as well as an app and assorted platforms such as Amazon and Apple. It will also be available to Sky users as part of a new deal between the studio and the television giant that also takes in its other channels. Sky Cinema subscribers will get Paramount+ for free, while other consumers will pay £6.99 a month or £69.90 a year after a free seven day trial. The service will offer up 8,000 hours of programming, with existing product from franchises such as Star Trek, as well as plenty from its assorted production arms, taking in Showtime, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon and Paramount itself. New offerings include HALO, 1883, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, The Offer, Mayor of Kingstown, Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber, The First Lady, The Man Who Fell to Earth, Queen of the Universe and Jerry & Marge Go Large. There ware also a number of specific UK commissions, taking in Sexy Beast, A Gentleman in Moscow, Flatshare, The Burning Girls, The Ex-Wife and The Blue as well as factual programming.Films range from new releases such as the latest Scream outing to classics such as Grease.
Comment came from Raffaele Annecchino, President and CEO, International Networks, Studios and Streaming, Paramount Global, who said: “Paramount is known for its leading portfolio of premium entertainment brands and a robust content engine that fuels our rapidly expanding streaming service, Paramount+. This year will be monumental for our streaming strategy as we accelerate our global ambitions, rapidly expanding Paramount+ in Europe beginning with the UK, Italy, Germany, France and more by the end of this year and debut in Asia with South Korea in June, followed by India in 2023. With an already expansive global footprint and a strong, long-term market-by-market strategy, we are well-poised to continue our positive momentum.” Maria Kyriacou, President, Australia, Canada, Israel and UK, Paramount, added: “The addition of Paramount+ to our strong portfolio of free-to-air, pay TV and streaming services will broaden the range of choice available to our audiences in the UK and Ireland. Paramount+ will be a one-stop destination for Paramount’s biggest brands, where fans of all ages can find exclusive original premium content, global hits, and discover a world of favourites from Paramount’s vast catalogue.” 
One organisation that was quick out of the blocks when it came to streaming was the BFI and it’s managed to dovetail its streaming service alongside its existing video label as well as theatrical and exhibition on the Southbank, Latest to come for a carefully timed release, as announced here recently, is Get Carter, the classic Brit thriller directed by Mike Hodges and featuring Michael Caine in one of his most pivotal roles (and, of course, Alf Roberts from Coronation Street), The film, originally released in 1971, is being given the full 4K treatment ahead of a theatrical re-release at the end of May, followed by a 4K UHD and Blu-ray release at the end of July. In the carefully-timed campaign, the title has just gone up for pre-order and the BFI has reported a strong response to the pre-orders, and John Ramchandani said: “The reaction to the UHD and 2-disc Blu-ray release of BFI’s brand new 4K restoration of GET CARTER blew us all away. We knew it was going to be good but the pre-orders and customer feedback we’ve already received are enough to even raise a smile by the hardest of gangsters. We’re still confirming a wide assortment of new extras including the recently recorded career interview with Mike Hodges, who has fully endorsed our restoration.”
Meanwhile, the BFI has also unveiled its home entertainment slate for the third quarter, taking in the months from July to September, of which Get Carter is a key plank. Outlining the rest of the quarter, John Ramchandani said: “July to September will prove to be another bumper quarter from BFI. In addition to the previously announced GET CARTER we’re releasing a selection of features that coincide with the theatrical programme at BFI Southbank: MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS will receive its UK Blu-ray premiere alongside the Glenda Jackson season in July while PICKPOCKET, THE TRIAL OF JOAN OF ARC and L’ARGENT receive standalone Blu-ray releases following the Robert Bresson season. ALL MY FRIENDS HATE ME is a brand new black comedy from the formidable writing duo of Tom Palmer and Tom Stourton and directed by Andrew Gaynord (Stath Lets Flats). Playing on the all-too-common fear of social paranoia, the ‘exquisitely uncomfortable’ (Variety) comedy has already received really encouraging early reviews ahead of the UK-wide theatrical release in June and dual format release in August. Following the success of Ingmar Bergman Volumes 1 and 2 we are delighted to announce the third collection as a five-disc Blu-ray boxset of films from 1960 to 1969, including PERSONA, THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY and THE VIRGIN SPRING among others. Rounding off the quarter is the Blu-ray premiere of BURNING AN ILLUSION, the 1981 film written and directed by the late Menelik Shabazz followed by the Blu-ray release of KUHLE WAMPE - the only communist film to come out of Weimer Germany in 1932 before swiftly being banned by Hitler.”
Sticking with the BFI, albeit with a June release, and just announced at the marvellous Rough Trade East store over, as the name suggests, off Brick Lane in the heart of London’s a Shoreditch, is a special evening hosted by the BFI to mark the Blu-ray release of Lawrence Of Belgravia, one of the finest music documentaries ever made. The film, long unavailable on disc after a limited edition DVD release almost a decade ago, charts the life and times of the enigmatic frontman of notorious bands such as Felt, Denim and latterly Go-Kart Mozart. Born and destined to be a star, somehow the much sought after chart success has eluded him and the film looks at the greatest pop star who never was. Lawrence himself, along with director Paul Kelly, will be appearing at the store at a spacial screening of the film, with a Q&A after. The price of entry includes a copy of the all-singing, all-dancing Blu-ray, which Lawrence and Kelly will be signing at the end of the event. The title comes out on June 13 and as well as including a commentary from Kelly, the first run also includes a booklet with features and essays, including one from The Raygun’s own Tim Murray in conversation with Lawrence, one of his genuine idols. More on the event here.
One of the real family treats we’ve seen at the cinema this year is Uncharted, a film that showed that video game adaptations really are a commercially viable and, more importantly, enjoyable and entertaining. Its UK box office haul highlights its commercial potential – more than £25 million taken at cinemas – and the title is already sitting pretty at number one in the Official Film Chart on the strength of digital sales alone. It arrives in physical formats on Monday May 9 and is set to enjoy further success. As many pundits noted, its success has showed the so-called curse of video game film adaptations is over. Commenting at the time of its theatrical success, Sony Pictures Motion Pictures Group President Josh Greenstein said: “This result is yet another extraordinary testament to the appetite for the theatrical experience that Sony Pictures bet on. Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg are brilliant together. Thank you to our sister company, PlayStation, for their incredible partnership, and all the many people who worked so hard to bring this film to life in a big, theatrical way.” Now roll on the physical release…
A classic film that hasn’t been legally available in the UK in uncut form since before the 1984 Video Recordings Act will finally be landing in stores in July in an unexpurgated, uncensored form, bringing to an end one of the stranger home entertainment classification tales of recent years. Pink Flamingos, John Waters’ classic trash film that brought both the director and his muse, Divine, to a wider audience has been confirmed as a forthcoming Criterion release on July 25 in the latest announcement from the cinephiles friendly imprint, further giving credibility to this low budget trash classic that played at the Scala in London for years. The film had originally been released uncut in the early days of video, before cuts were made whenever it had formally been submitted to the BBFC for classification after legislation for video was introduced. It has a few, shall we say, shocking and outré scenes, not least of which (the one were Divine eats dog poo) which had troubled the BBFC, but the organisation finally decided to award it an 18 for home consumption with no cuts when it was submitted again for DVD release in 2008. But as soon as the shackles were off, the then distributor (unnamed by the BBFC in its case study) decided to withdraw its submission. As the BBFC noted: “The BBFC therefore informed the film's distributor that Pink Flamingos could now, finally, be classified 18 uncut. However, the distributor subsequently chose to withdraw this submission from the classification process before a formal certificate could be issued. Therefore, the cut version of the film remains the only version available in the UK, in spite of the BBFC's willingness to permit the film uncut in 2008.”
More forthcoming product news and Network has unveiled a further batch off summer titles alongside its recently announced Danziger series. Commenting on the June titles, the company’s Juan Veloza said; “With summer soon upon us, we are thrilled to announce four new releases coming in June to our popular The British Film collection. Available on Blu-ray and DVD, star-studded drama Les Miserables (1989), the ITC version of the classic French novel; an upgrade to HD of the 70's comedy Spanish Fly (1976), set on the Mediterranean island of Minorca. A riotous feature film version of controversial TV series Whoops Apocalypse (1986), an outrageous satire of global politics available both on Blu-ray and DVD. And the 50s Brit Noir from Hammer Films The House Across the Lake (1954), an early dramatic jewel shot just a year before they made their name with The Quatermass Xperiment. All of these in addition to five new TV gems from The Danziger brothers also coming out in June.”
Plenty of news from Altitude this week, with the company offering up big news of the follow-up to a BASE award-winning title from 2018 and more theatrical titles and others further down the line. Taking in that all-important follow up first, and the company is working once more with the team behind Spitfire from four years ago for a look at another plane that helped Britain win the Second World War in the shaper of Lancaster. Here’s Altitude’s Adam Eldrett on the the title, he said: “We are delighted to be working again with the team behind SPITFIRE which we released back in September 2018, the film performed well theatrically as part of an event release strategy and went on to top the documentary charts and our campaign picked up a BASE award. LANCASTER is certainly made in the same mould and again focuses not just on the machinery but the people, in this case the crews who went above and beyond and flew this aircraft in some of WW2's most dangerous and famous missions. We are making the film available in cinemas and are again working closely with key partners in and around the world of aviation to generate awareness. From the release of SPITFIRE we also have a large list of non-traditional retailers interested in stocking the physical copy of the film. Millions of families in the UK are in some way connected to Bomber Command and much like SPITFIRE it's remarkable the passion these documentaries stir in the hearts and minds of anyone whose family served in our own fight for freedom. It's definitely a follow up to that original film and one that has again been expertly crafted, again with stunning ariel photography from John Dibbs and first hand accounts from Veterans, some of whom are speaking for the first time. The film is in cinemas and on digital from May 27 and will be on DVD and Blu-ray from May 30, it's already topped the documentary charts and is pre-ordering well.”
Meanwhile, there’s more documentary excellence, albeit of a completely different kind, due from Atitude on the way after the company announced a sparkling new project involving Martin Scorsese. The legendary director is to narrate and executive produce a doc looking at the life and careers of seminal British filmmaking duo Powell and Pressburger. Altitude is handling the international sales and, with the company’s Will Clarke on board as another exec producer, will also be releasing the film in the UK and Ireland. Scorsese has long professed the profound influence that Powell and Pressburger had on his work; their films, ranging from `the Red Shoes and The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp through to Black Narcissus and A Matter Of Life And Death, will provide the focal point for the film, directed by David Hinton.
Scorsese himself said: “I still find it extraordinary that I knew Michael Powell personally for sixteen years - and, throughout that time, he was not only a support, but a guide, pushing me along, giving me confidence, keeping me bold in my own work. I've seen the films that he made with Emeric over and over again but the experience of excitement and mystery that I get from them doesn't just remain, it deepens. I don't know how it happens but for me, their body of work is a wondrous presence, a constant source of energy, and a reminder of what life and art are all about.” Director Hinton said: "There's no British films that I admire more than those of Powell and Pressburger, and working with Michael Powell in the 1980's was one of the most enjoyable experiences of my professional life. On top of that, there's no living film-maker that I admire more than Martin Scorsese, and no-one speaks about Powell and Pressburger with more passion, conviction and insight. When you put that together with all the magical archive material that we've found, you can see why this is a dream project for me.” And Altitude’s Clarke added: “We’re very excited to be working with such a renowned and passionate group of filmmakers and fellow cinema lovers on this project. We look forward to bringing the stories behind the power and beauty of Powell and Pressburger’s immense work to audiences worldwide.”
And lastly from Altitude, the company has anounced that principal photography has wrapped on No Way Up, a female-driven survival thriller starring Colm Meaney alongside Downnton Abbey’s Phyllis Logan and a host of young talent. Executive produced by Altitude’s Will Clarke and Mike Runagall, it follows a plane crashing in the Pacific and its crew and passengers’ attempts to escape the airlock galley below the surface of the ocean. Producer Annalise Davis said: “I couldn’t be happier with how the shoot has gone. Working with Andy Mayson’s roller coaster ride of a script, and Claudio Fäh’s sure-footed and inspirational direction, we have put together a top-quality cast and team, who have delivered a suspenseful survival thriller with a diverse set of exciting and inspirational characters.”
It’s always good to see a home entertainment release hitting the headlines and earning tabloid and broadsheet coverage in the national press. And this week it was the turn of BBC Studios, which has announced a first ever release for the first series of shows to air on British TV featuring a fine comedy double act. Morecambe & Wise The Lost Tapes, due on June 6 on DVD, is the culmination of years of work tracking down and restoring early episodes of the pair’s long-thought-lost first series for the Beeb, originally aired in 1968. As BBC Studios noted in the announcement, which garnered coverage in The Guardian, Daily Mail, Daily Star, Telegraph and I: “Following years of archive research and restoration, film copies have been found for four of the eight episodes of the first series, with audio-only recordings having also been located for the other four. All eight episodes are now being released on DVD together with a previously lost one-off Morecambe and Wise special from October 1970.” More on this soon…
101 Films has inked a deal with US imprint Shout! Factory, a label with a similar ethos and a strong track record of bringing classic genre fare to Blu-ray in all-singing, all-dancing versions, that will see the UK indie bringing a raft of titles to market from its American counterpart’s catalogue. First among them are two early titles from Jonathan Demme, the director behind such classics as The Silence of The Lambs and Stop Making Sense. Demme came to the big leagues through one of the traditional routes for filmmakers of his generation, directing low budget movies for Roger Corman and the releases represent two of the late director’s Corman classics, Caged Heat and Crazy Mama. Both of the titles, due on June 13, come complete with a raft of extras, and are on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK. 101’s Tim Scaping said: “We’ve teamed up with American label Shout! Factory to bring a range of content to UK Blu-ray for the first time, and the first titles off the production line are this pair of 70s exploitation cult classics from Jonathan Demme. Before hitting the big time with the likes of The Silence of the Lambs, Demme worked with Roger Corman, and this one-two punch of female-orientated violent crime was the highly appealing result. CAGED HEAT and CRAZY MAMA are both released on Blu-ray on 13th June. Look out for further announcements in the very near future.”
We talked about Anti-World’s highly desirable Blu-ray bow for The Days Of The Bagnold Summer, the directorial debut of Inbetweeners star Simon Bird recently and the comedy star turned helmer has highlighted the importance for talent of getting a physical release for The Raygun, telling us: “There's something beautifully ironic and cosmically satisfying about seeing this quiet film centred around a modest librarian and her introverted son get the bells-and-whistles, all-singing, all-dancing DVD/Blu-Ray treatment. I'm bowled over by the package Anti-Worlds has put together."
AT THE MOVIES
News from Shudder and the concept of 70s horror – both films set in that era and also ones heavily influenced by the kind of films made in the seminal decade for genre fare – continues to to provide a rich seam for filmmakers. The latest pick-up from the horror and genre specialist streamer sees it signing rights in all the territories it covers for The Sacrifice Game, the latest from Jenn Wexler, whose previous title The Ranger was a hit for the service. The film, which goes into production on May 9, is set in 1971 and sees two pupils at a boarding school during the Christmas holidays coming up against supernatural forces.“We loved The Ranger and are thrilled to be working with Jenn and her team to bring her new film, The Sacrifice Game, to life. Jenn’s film promises to be a wild and thrilling ride that offers a fresh take on timeless horror themes. We can’t wait to share it with our members,” said Shudder General Manager Craig Engler. “I am extremely excited to be working with this incredible cast and to be partnering again with Shudder and with Red Sea Media. The Sacrifice Game is my tribute to the beauty and boldness of ‘70s horror, anchored in an unlikely friendship between outsiders,” said Wexler.
Shudder has also acquired Fantasia International Film Festival entry Glorious, starring True Blood’s Ryan Kwanten and Oscar winner JK Simmons, with the film due to debut in the UK, US and elsewhere on the service in August. Shudder general manager Craig Engler said: ““ith Glorious, director Rebekah McKendry brings Lovecraftian horror to a place it’s never been seen before: a rest stop men’s room. She and her all-star cast have created an inventive and original cosmic horror that manages to be both darkly hilarious and profoundly personal.”
McKendry added: “For years, I had been searching for a project that would let me show my preferred artistic style - that would let me be absurdist, sardonic, transgressive, and weird. And Glorious gets really f’n weird. As a diehard horror fan, I’m thrilled Glorious has found a home at Shudder, and I know Shudder fans will find something unique, wild, and thought-provoking lurking inside our rural rest stop bathroom.”
The John Woo renaissance continues apace, with the director still working on a new action flick, Silent Night, and now more news of an eagerly awaited remake on the way too… For the legendary helmer, whose early Hong Kong outings changed the way Hollywood viewed action films, is also going to finally shoot The Killer, his classic early film, for Universal’s streaming service Peacock. Little else is known at the minute, although it will not be the once mooted Killer remake starring Lupita Nyong’o…
TWEET OF THE WEEK
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TRAILERS OF THE WEEK
Film of the year…
Unless this is…
This appears to have everything…
Licensed product…
It’s what Walt would have wanted…
Actually, this is what Walt would have wanted…
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