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STORES OPEN ACROSS HOME NATIONS
BASE UNVEILS 2021 AWARDS DATE…
…AND NEW GONGS UP FOR GRABS
THE STUFF OF LEGEND
ACORN CELEBRATES QUARTET…
…AS LINE GETS READY FOR HOME ENT DUTY
UNIVERSAL’S 2021 SLATE UNVEILED FOR CINEMAS…
…AND HOME ENT ARM GETS READY
VIN WELCOMES CINEMAS REOPENING
RAISING A GLASS TO ANOTHER ROUND
RAF CORPORAL GROUNDED
AT THE MOVIES
TWEET OF THE WEEK
TRAILERS OF THE WEEK
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The last of the shuttered hmv stores – in Scotland and Northern Ireland – have thrown open their doors after lockdown eased in the two countries; more and more companies are talking about their theatrical and then home entertainment slates; there’s Oscar winners on the way and things are looking good for television too; Line Of Duty continues to remind viewers of the joy of the medium and, hopefully, in May, it will further remind consumers how television can still be a force at home entertainment too. Oh, and there’s news of the BASE Awards too, aiming to get back to some semblance of normal after 2020’s event being held online because of the pandemic. Yes, things are beginning to get back to something like norrnal…
News of the BASE Awards first and the organisation has this week announced a date for the 2021 event and has also unveiled new categories reflecting the shift in business over the past 12 months or more. The event wil be held at the new venue it had planned to move to in 2020, the Roundhouse venue in Camden, with the bash taking place on September 9. Among the new changes will be a Distributor of the Year award split into two categories, for physical and digital, and three condensed categories for Campaign of the Year Film Box office (up to £1m, between £1m and £10m and anything above) and four new awards – Campaign of the Year – Reactive/Debut/Premiere (New Release), Campaign of the Year – Reactive/Debut/Premiere (Catalogue)
Campaign of the Year – High Value/Premium Release/4K (New Release) and Social Impact Award – including LGBTQ+ / inclusion and environmental and sustainability initiatives. The first three reflect the changing nature of the business during the pandemic, the latter socially-minded initiatives. Entry forms are now available from the BASE website and intention to entry must be made by the end of May, with full entries due in by June 11. BASE also noted that it had made provisions for any downturn in the nation’s health and fortunes and further lockdown woes, noting: “For BASE, the health and well-being of all of its members and colleagues are the ultimate priority. A final judgement will be made in July regarding a large-scale in-person September event. An alternative date is held for November, and a virtual celebration will take place in Q4 should an in-person event be unable to proceed this year. The judging processes are guaranteed and winners will be celebrated inNovember if not before.” Comment on the new awards came from BASE chief executive Liz Bales who said: “After one of the most extraordinary and challenging years on record the BASE team have worked incredibly hard to make sure the 41st BASE Awards has evolved to reflect the complex circumstances that framed 2020. As always, the Awards provide the perfect opportunity to shine a light on the exceptional achievements across our category, and whether it’s side by side at the legendary Camden Roundhouse, or, if necessary, a virtual ceremony later in the year to follow the success of last year’s online event, we are determined we will come together in 2021 to celebrate the stellar achievements of our passionate and devoted industry.”
Congratulations to our pals at 88 Films, which has become the latest boutique label specialising in genre fare to earn a top 10 placing in the Official Film Chart with a sumptuously-packaged, extras-laden release. For the independent this week finds itself a new entry at number nine in the listing compiled by the Official Charts Company with its lavish Urban Legend Trilogy featuring the trio of mainstream horror flicks. The title added to its recent move into more recent horror titles, often theatrical turn video hits and follows on from the likes of Final Destination, which has added another string to its bow alongside its Slasher range, classic 70s and 80s VHS-friendly horror fare and its burgeoning collection of classic martial arts too. The company’s md Richard Elliott said: “We’re delighted to make the top ten of the Official Film Charts with our latest Blu-ray boxset, its been one of our best releases and our collaboration with the director of Urban Legend Jamie Blanks really helped us to get the word out. We just want to shout out to Elevation Sales which is doing such a wonderful job with our sales and distribution and has been the catalyst for 88 Films’ growth over the last nearly two years. We have many more exciting premium limited editon products in the pipeline and we hope be climbing up the sales charts again very soon.”
More chart news and over on the Official Charts Company’s TV charts it’s been a bumper week for Acorn, with no less than four of the titles from the company in the tip 10 in the midweeks, with The Terror at number two, Deutschland 89 at four and a complete set of the three different outings at eight, with the omnipotent Line Of Duty and a five series box set at number 10. Acorn’s head of marketing Helen Squire said: “A busy week of releases for us, happily resulting in four of the Top 10 TV chart positions. The breadth of titles demonstrates Acorn’s ongoing commitment to both physical and digital home entertainment - from big budget historical drama with a good splash of added horror in The Terror to German language thrills in Deutschland ’89 and of course the twists and turns of the adrenaline filled Line of Duty. Our 2021 line up continues to offer customers some of the best drama from the UK and around the world.”
Meanwhile, the Line Of Duty juggernaut continues to build and build ahead of the transmission of the final episode of the sixth series on Sunday May 2, all of which is paving the way for Acorn’s digital release of Jed Mercurio’s latest corrupt cop drama on May 3 and its physical home entertainment bow at the end of the month. The programme continues to wow fans, spark major online and press debate and, to top it all, continues to smash records. As the company’s Helen Squire said: “With series 6 the most successful Line of Duty ever - and the penultimate episode the highest rated drama since BARB started keeping records we cannot wait till the nation sees the finale this Sunday. Pre-orders are really strong and for the first time ever we're bringing Line Of Duty to Blu-ray. Expect lots of noise everywhere next week as Debbie from Aim Publicity escorts AC-12 from broadcast to home entertainment with the cast appearing on TV, radio and in print. Fans can buy the new series to download and keep digitally from Monday but will have to wait a little longer to own it in disc form as it will be released on the May 31. Thanks to retail for such fantastic support.”
Universal has confirmed that Promising Young Woman, the Oscar-winning thriller currently playing on Sky Cinema, will be winding its way to home entertainment in 2021 following its big Academy Award win. The title is one of an impressive slate of forthcoming biggies from the major, which unveiled its schedule for the rest of the year and beyond at theatrical. The slate, which averages out at almost a title a week at reopening cinemas through until November, kicks off with Robin Wright’s directorial debut Land on June 4 and features family fare aplenty – from The Croods 2 and Spirit Untamed in July, up to The Addams Family 2 and Boss Baby 2 in October, blockbusters such as Fast & Furious 9 and the eagerly-awaited No Time To Die (July and September respectively at cinemas), horror and genre fare in the shape of the likes of The Forever Purge (July), Candyman (August) and Halloween Kills in October), as well as two from Edgar Wright (doc The Sparks Brothers in July and Last Night In Soho in October) and the much-talked about House Of Gucci starring Lady Gaga, Adam Driver and Al Pacino in November. Oh, and there’s the debut feature release from the People Just Do Nothing crew with Big In Japan as well as one we can’t wait for, Ben Wheatley’s lockdown tale In The Earth.
All the aforementioned Universal titles will make their way to home entertainment and, as Universal’s home entertainment head of new release Poonam Chudasama noted: “We are thrilled with the prospect of cinemas reopening and for our Home Entertainment slate returning for the back end of 2021 with an exciting array of new content. We have the next instalment of the Fast & Furious franchise and Dreamworks’ The Croods: New Age as well as a number of Sky Originals including award winners, Promising Young Woman and The US vs Billie Holiday. With 2022 gearing up to be our biggest year to date with the long awaited No Time To Die, highly anticipated Respect and the more recent addition of Downton Abbey 2, we cannot wait to start planning and bringing our films to market for our customers to enjoy at home on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital.”
“It’s been a while, the roads were a little empty, the places where we used to go went quiet, we’e gone though a year that tested us but we’re starting to see the promise of a new day. For more than 100 years, there’s one place where we all came together to be entertained, to escape to go to some place new. The movies. There’s nothing like that moment when the lights go down, the projector ignites and we believe…” Universal has put together a new trailer to welcome the return to cinemas and the imminent release of Fast & Furious 9 that perhaps mirrors the UK’s own Industry Trust efforts showing how special cinemas and films can be, narrated, as above, by Vin Diesel, who concludes: “We’re ready to make you believe again, because nobody does a comeback like the movies… We’ll see you soon.” You can see it here…
As noted above, the Oscars took place last weekend, in case you hadn’t notice (and judging by the US viewing figures, a lot of people didn’t notice, or even care), but in a year when awards season felt vaguely disconnected from the real world, it was another successful event for the streamers, with Disney+ launching Nomadland as a standard title on its service in the UK on Friday April 30 proving to be one of those timely releases that distributors used to work for theatrical or home entertainment. We’ve already talked about one deserved winner due at cinemas and then home entertainment after its BAFTA triumph (Lionsgate’s The Father, in case you can’t remember), but another film due out at cinemas after they have reopened before making its way to home entertainment that we can highly recommended is this year’s foreign language Oscar winner, Studiocanal’s ace Another Round, both a cautionary and celebratory tale about alcohol. Co meeting on its success, the company’s Kristin Ryan said: “"We're thrilled Another Round was awarded the Best International Film at this year's Academy Awards. The awareness and appetite for the film has been building steadily since it's debut at Cannes last year and we're confident the film will connect with a UK audience. We raise a glass to Thomas Vinterberg's modern masterpiece and get our dancing shoes on to join Mads when the film makes its long awaited big screen debut July 2."
News from FACT and the Federation Against Copyright Theft has been working with the RAF’s Special Investigation Branch to trap a corporal in the service who sold illegal services which provided illegal access to premium film, TV and sports channels. The corporal, from Wallingford, Oxfordshire, who was not named, had been flogging illegal subscriptions via Facebook groups and via an app which could be loaded on to Firestick devices allowing consumers to gain access to services. The serving corporal was sentenced to 10 months in jail, suspended for 18 months after being convicted of He was convicted conspiracy to defraud and loss of service property, He also received a reduction to his rank. FACT chief executive Kieron Sharp said: “Those running illegal streaming services are committing a serious crime and must be held accountable for their actions. This result shows the serious consequences faced by individuals who choose to break the law by supplying illegal content. This type of conviction will have a significant and long-lasting effect on this individual’s career and future opportunities. We thank the RAF for their work on this and FACT will continue to monitor channels used to advertise, market, sell and distribute apps, devices and streams to take action against suppliers and operators”
AT THE MOVIES
We’re not going to bother telling you the Oscar winners, you should have been watching it or at least gone online to see who’d picked up the gongs (there’s loads here https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2021_ ) but one interesting story that emerged afterwards surrounded international statue winner Another Round. For in a somewhat inevitable move, an English language remake is now planned, with Leonardo DiCaprio’s production outfit having picked up the rights. The star’s involvement in the project, along with original cast member Mads Mikkelsen and director Thomas Vinterberg, is not entirely clear… Just make sure you see the original…
Godzilla Vs Kong is one of the biggest films of the year in a 2021 that has been devoid of cinema action at theatres in the UK and around the world, but its success has been enough to spark talk of more monster work for director Adam Wingard. For according to reports from Hollywood, he is in discussions with Warner for another MonsterVerse title, with rumours swirling around that it will be called something like Son Of Kong. It’s a way off yet, what with the Face/Off sequel mentioned here recently as well as a Thundercats movie to come…
David Cronenberg is back. And what’s more, it seems as if Crimes Of The Future, which has been announced this week, sees the director going back to his 1970s body horror roots by the looks of things. Viggo Mortensen is among the cast joining the film, which should film later this year and is set in the near future in a world where humans are evolving to adapt to the ever-changing technological environment. “I have unfinished business with the future,” said the writer and director, somewhat ominously…
TWEET OF THE WEEK
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TRAILERS OF THE WEEK
Due via Disney…
More Disney…
Have a Cow, man…
Due on Disney+
Physical, on digital…
THE OBLIGATORY GDPR BIT
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