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WICKED CASTS A SPELL OVER CONSUMERS…
…AND CEMENTS STRONG START TO 2025…
BASE NOTES VALUE, VOLUME UP IN FIRST TWO MONTHS
MOANA 2 SET TO GIVE FURTHER BOOST…
…AS THEATRICAL STARTS THE YEAR WELL TOO…
…BUT VARIETY PROCLAIMS DVD IS DEAD…
…AND DISC RENTALS FALL OUT OF INFLATION BASKET
SECOND RUN OPENS CASE
LIGHTBULB GOES IT ALONE
THIRD WINDOW GETS RELIGION
RADIANCE ADDS UHD…
…UNVEILS SUMMER TITLES…
…AND CONTINUES PCC COLLABORATION
SADLER OFFERS GUIDE TO DISTRIBUTION
DISCOMANIA CATCHES ON
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TRAILERS OF THE WEEK
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It was a good week for… 2025 off to a strong start across theatrical and, crucially, home entertainment too…
It was a bad week for… Consumers in the US are being offered replacements or like-for-like swaps after Warner offered to compensate them for dice released between 2006 and 2008 suffering disc rot…
We have been watching… We finally caught up with The Brutalist, which deserved all the plaudits it got, as well as watching the programme everyone is talking about, Adolescence on Netflix…
It’s not the first time we’ve written this, but physical media is dead. Long live physical media. For when many such as US trade magazine Variety are writing off discs, especially DVD, after US figures for 2024 were revealed (see below), some on these shores are feeling more positive after starting 2025 in a healthier shape than naysayers would have you believe. Chief among these successes was Wicked, another big release from Universal via its new deal with Spirit, with the blockbuster musical landing in stores on March 10 and, Spirit said, enjoying a strong first week of sales on physical formats. The company’s Rob Callow told The Raygun: “It’s been an absolute privilege to work on the phenomenon that is Wicked. The way in which our retail colleagues embraced its release has been absolutely fabulous with an amazing amount of support and in-store theatre driving sales to an incredible 40k week one result. Thanks to the Universal Pictures team, all of our retail and supply partners and my Spirit colleagues who have put so much work into making Wicked’s physical release such a resounding success.”
Wicked’s success comes as part of a wider, more buoyant feeling among the industry, as noted by many in the business, and this spreads not just across physical, but into the digital realm too, as many sectors have started the year off strongly. According to figures shared with The Raygun by trade association BASE, Blu-ray volume is up by 4.1 per cent year-on-year in January and February of 2025, with value up 11 per cent. The 4K UHD format is performing even better – value in the first two months of this year compared with 2024 was up 22 per cent, with volume up by 13.6 per cent. EST volume is up YoY too – rising by 17.3 per cent in volume terms and a whopping 38.9 per cent in value. Wicked is the number one EST title thus far, delivering value of £9.1 million, with Seven topping the 4K UHD chart and Gladiator II the top VOD title, selling more than 247,000 units. Figures for the first 11 weeks of the year also show that Doctor Who The Collection S7 is number four in the Blu-ray chart on volume and number one for value, having delivered more than £632,600 in revenue across the 11.6 units sold.
Comment on the successes of 2025 thus far came from BASE chief executive Liz Bales, who said: “The sense of optimism across the category is palpable, because of the first week's performance in 2025 but also the ensuing slate for 2025, which promises more of the same. This was evident in the third BASE and DEGI Digital Summit at the beginning of March, which was a room full of energy, optimism and with a bold vision for the possibilities of the future.”
Further comment on the early encouraging signs in 2025 came from Elevation, which this week brings Moana 2 into stores. Elevation’s Richard Athill said: “The expectation for the year was to see stabilisation YoY and with the hope that we could even see market value growth so to reach wk11 and see this materialise cements this belief and underlines the robustness of the market, support remains strong from our retail partners and proof that the consumer continues to see value in physical ownership.” On the Disney animated sequel, the company’s Mark Frampton added: “Elevation is proud to release Disney’s Moana 2, the 62nd animated classic from the Walt Disney Animation Studios and a box office smash hit. Releasing across all formats on 4k UHD, 4k UHD Steelbook, Blu-ray and DVD as well as DVD double pack, we have seen a strong Day 1 performance which bodes well for the week. It’s great to see DVD buyers engaging on this popular franchise and the Sing-along version of the film is sure to be a much-loved feature of the Blu-ray and 4k versions.”
This year’s early optimism comes off the back of the remarkable theatrical figures for the last couple of months of 2024, which saw UK box office receipts bounce back and turn the year-end figures into something bearing parity to 2023, rather than, as many had feared earlier in the year, a fall on the previous year’s figures. And it’s interesting to note that that mini box office boom has continued into 2025. February receipts at UK and Irish cinemas totalled a touch over £100 million, up 20 per cent on the same month in 2024. And by the end of February, according to widely reported Comscore numbers, box office for the year stood at 15 per cent ahead of the same time last year. Almost a third of February’s numbers came from the latest Bridget Jones outing.
In a famous article back in 2006, (one we linked to here recently, but you can see it here), US trade bible Variety proclaimed the death of VHS in a mock obituary, noting; “After a long illness, the groundbreaking home-entertainment format VHS has died of natural causes in the United States. The format was 30 years old.” While that was ostensibly true, the magazine has recently claimedthe magazine has recently claimed that it’s over for DVD too. “It's Official: The DVD Business Died in 2024” ran the headline. It followed news from US trade body DEG, which noted that physical disc sales had fallen below $1 billion in the US in 2024, compared with the high of more than $16 billion in 2006. The piece started: “Somewhere at a CVS Pharmacy or 7-Eleven likely near you, there’s a broken and pillaged Redbox machine, abandoned by its makers and wasting away like Ozymandias in the desert. It’s a perfect visual summary of the current state of the DVD industry, once a titan of the home entertainment world, reduced to a shadow of its former self in the streaming era. Around this time last year, [Variety] predicted 2024 would be the year the DVD became a sub-billion-dollar business in the U.S. And now, with the recent release of Digital Entertainment Group’s 2024 year-end Digital Media Entertainment Report, the data confirms just that: After years of decline, the DVD market has hit bottom.” Not that it’s gloating over the death of the format, noting that the industry’s reliance on SVOD cash to swell its coffers and show growth was a case of putting all your eggs in one basket. And again in its defence, the article does end: "As for the DVD, its time as a major industry player may be over, but its vinyl-like rebirth into a specialty item and status symbol for the dedicated is already underway. Toward the bottom of its report, DEG notes that sales from physical 4K UHD catalog releases held steady since 2023, while spending on titles released with ‘premium Steelbook packaging’ grew in 2024. No specific percentages or dollar totals were included, but it leaves a small glimmer of hope for the holdouts who still champion physical media in an increasingly digital and subscription-based world.”
News arrived as The Raygun went to press too that DVD rentals have been taken off the basket used by officials to calculate inflation in the UK. The Office for National Statistics oversees the imaginary basket, which contains more than 700 items and is used to follow consumer trends and, more importantly, calculate the rate of inflation too. DVD rental is now out of the basket, with VR headsets among the items replacing it, because it has “low expenditure”, falling to what one one newspaper described as “negligible levels”. Subscription video on demand services, including the likes of Netflix and Prime Video, are now given greater weighting in the basket too.
Long-time senior Amazon executive Chris Bird, who has risen through the ranks of the home entertainment business in the UK, mirroring the changing nature of the business, is to exit the company after almost 15 years. He started in the business on the supplier side, at the likes of Universal, then went on to LOVEFiLM and ended up growing with Amazon as, after its acquisition of the homegrown rental by post specialist, it launched its streaming arm, ending up as director of Prime Video UK, taking over leadership of the arm in 2021. Paying tribute to the departing Bird, Prime Video EU general manager Brigette Ricou-Bellan said: “In that time, Chris has helped to grow Prime Video UK into one of the most influential streaming services in the U.K., overseeing major milestones such as the recent launch of UEFA Champion’s League, the acquisition of Bray Studios as well as appearing in governmental select committees to demonstrate the importance of PV UK to the UK film and TV industry. Working with our content and studios partners on launches such as The Rig, The Devil’s Hour and of course, Clarkson’s Farm, Chris has played a large part in establishing Prime Video as the premier entertainment destination in the U.K.. We’re very grateful to Chris for all his contribution to the PV business and to Amazon, and we wish him the very best.” In a message to staff, Bird said: “When I first joined a crazy small start-up called LoveFilm in 2004 (that was incorporated into Prime Video in 2010), our goal was to use new technology to help customers access film and TV in a deeper, more convenient, better value-for-money manner,” he wrote. “We cared about having a great selection of programming, innovating on behalf of customers, and delighting them with an ever refreshing offering. We dreamed, one day, to make our own UK TV series. It is incredibly rewarding now to look back and see how we have stood by these principles, built a world-beating business, and served hundreds of millions of customers so well, with so much.”
New release news and out this week is the latest from Second Run, with another classic of European cinema in the shape of The Barnabas Kos Case. The company’s Chris Barwick said: “Continuing our association with presenting gems of Czechoslovak cinema, this wonderful Slovak satire about a humble triangle-player-turned-petty-dictator after he’s suddenly and inexplicably promoted to a position of power feels as fresh and relevant as ever. Largely unknown in the West, the Blu-ray has already started picking up some great reviews and finding new fans.”
In a staggered release, the ever-busy Lightbulb Film Distribution last week released zombie apocalypse film Die Alone, starring Carrie-Anne Moss, on DVD, with the Blu-ray landing this week. The indie is expecting the title to get a further boost from the high def release of the film, which has already scored on DVD. Commenting on the release, the company’s Matthew Kreuzer said: “We are delighted with the performance of Die Alone last week, so huge thanks go to the entire team at Elevation, and the support from retailers to achieve over 1,000 units over the counter Week 1. This is the first time we’ve been Top 10 in the OCC chart that I can remember. Thanks also must go to Strike Media who worked tirelessly to secure us an interview with Carrie-Anne Moss in the Independent Culture magazine last Sunday. With the Blu-ray released this week, the film should have a decent Week 2.”
Just released by independent Asian cinema expert Third Window is New Religion, a relatively recent J-horror from director Keishi Kondo, making its worldwide Blu-ray debut in a package which includes spin-off short Neu Mirrors. Label boss Adam Torel said: “New Religion is from a first time Japanese filmmaker, with such an incredibly low budget that it required the film to be shot on weekends over the course of a year. Yet it has an accomplished and polished feel that defies that, and despite the amateur cast and crew director Keishi Kondo has made a very unique, slow-burn horror film which has been compared to Jonathan Glazer’s Under The Skin and the work of Kiyoshi Kurosawa. After premiering at Slamdance, it was a hit at genre festivals worldwide such as FrightFest and gets its world Blu-ray debut in a great package with the director's follow up short film and loads of bonus features.”
Radiance has announced its next batch of titles, revealing releases it is readying for June, and as well as offering another selection of diverse films from around the world, there’s also news of its first 4K UHD title, as the slate includes Palindromes from Todd Solondz, in a world exclusive ultra high definition release. The film, which features a rotating cast playing girl who falls pregnant, was, as the Guardian noted, "serious, un-ironic. Palindromes is not simply a black comedy, but a fascinating formal challenge to the audience”. Radiance has worked with the director before – his Welcome To The Dollhouse was one of the imprint’s first releases – and the release, available in dual format 4K and Blu-ray and a solos Blu-ray, features an exclusive interview with him. Label boss Fran Simeoni said: “We're delighted to launch our first of a clutch of UHD releases for 2025. It's clear the format is becoming more important to consumers even at a niche end of the market such as ours. We're already seeing a huge swing for the format in early pre-orders and are encouraged by the response from fans.”
The rest of the slate for June from Radiance includes a further three titles, as outlined here by Radiance’s Bruno Savill de Jong, who said: "June was an especially big line-up for us as we close the first half of 2025, and we're very pleased by the enthusiastic response we have received. LA TERRA TREMA is our first Visconti release and an early example of essential neorealist cinema, showcasing a stunning 2K restoration by Cineteca Nazionale. Plus, THE TALE OF OIWA'S GHOST takes crime film specialist Tai Kato into the swampy horror of this legendary Japanese ghost story. Last but not least, our next volume of WORLD NOIR is a three-film boxset highlighted moody gems from across the globe (including Sweden, France and Germany) – each release containing new features alongside an 80-page book featuring writing from Farran Nehme, Martyn Waites, Elena Lazic, Jourdain Searles, and more.”
Sticking with Radiance, and the label is collaborating again with the Prince Charles Cinema, one of the country’s finest rep cinemas (one whose recent landlord woes led to a massive surge of support and a petition objecting to potential plans to shutter the legendary theatre), with a series of screenings of some of its releases and films. Comment came from Paul Martinovic said: “We're delighted to be continuing Radiance Presents screenings with our partners the Prince Charles Cinema in 2025. We had a number of successful screenings in 2024, with successful screenings of Radiance titles Litan, Haxan, The Shape of Night and more, and in the coming months we're proud to be bringing to Leicester Square under-seen classics from Patrick Tam (Nomad and My Heart is that Eternal Rose), Seijun Suzuki (A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness) and Kelly Reichardt (River of Grass). Like the Prince Charles, Radiance is dedicated to preserving and sharing the history of cinema with new generations of film fans, ensuring that our audiences get the carefully curated yet wonderfully unpredictable cinematic experiences that they deserve. As part of the partnership, it's really important to us to alert (and in some cases introduce) Prince Charles attendees to the joys of physical media – it's why in the past we have introduced each screening with a how-to guide to starting a collection. With that in mind, we'll be continuing to share our ever-growing library of films with the PCC audience, with many more screenings planned for the future. And obviously it should go without saying that they have our full support in their ongoing fight to renew their lease and stay in their iconic venue. #SaveThePCC.”
If anyone knows about film distribution then it’s Jon Sadler, a long-time industry stalwart who has worked on both sides of the fence, as a retailer at the likes of Harrods, where he started his industry career, MVC and more on one side of the fence, and then at major distributors (Universal, Warner Music) and Indies (Momentum, Arrow), and as a creative director at assorted agencies. Latterly he’s been a consultant at his own Magus Films, as well as filling for a year’s maternity cover at Vertigo, and, as if that wasn’t enough, he’s also developing his own feature production too. In between all that, he’s managed to fit in writing a book about the business for aspiring indie filmmakers. Film Marketing And Distribution – An Independent Filmmaker's Guide, published by Kamera Books sees him sharing his decades’ worth of knowledge and offering advice to wannabe directors and producers who’ve made their own films – but aren’t sure where to start in getting them seen or distributed. Sadler said: “I started writing marketing posts and blogs on my website and LinkedIn a few years ago and was getting good feedback, while at the same time encountering many producers through my consultancy work who seemed to be very unprepared for what happens after a film is made. How an indie film can enter the market equipped to succeed and fit into both existing and emerging distribution models. A book seemed like a natural next step, especially since it has been a while since anyone attempted to address the subject of independent film marketing and distribution in a long form format. I had some fantastic contributors come on board to help add colour and additional expertise and experience to the book, including your good self. The book is available now for pre-order and will be available from October 21.” You can order the book here.
To a venue called The Divine in what is possibly still referred to as “London’s trendy Dalston”, where long-time film critic and journalist, FrightFest cofounder and co-director, one of the driving forces behind the FrightFest Presents home entertainment imprint, friend to the stars, former punk scenester and disco fanatic Alan Jones was marking the launch of his book Discomania. The lavish hardback book, published by Fab Press, is part memoir, part history of disco and part critique of every feature film pertaining to the musical genre, taking in everything from Saturday Night Fever to Gaaspar Noe’s Climax and a whole lot more. It’s a wonderful tome, detailing not just Jones’ incredible life story – it’s worth it not just for his memories of the early days of punk rock, but also as a document of disco and the movies about it. And, moreover, it’s guide to films you’ve heard of and ones you didn’t know even existed. Discomania has already been covered extensively, everywhere from The Guardian through to house music and club culture bible Faith Fanzine (where he was interviewed by The Raygun’s very own Tim Murray), The great and the good of the horror community were out in force, including one cheeky questioner during the Q&A session who managed to sneak in news of an impending Blu-ray release and more for classic Brit disco flick The Music Machine, due from indie label Severin later this year (there’s a screening in London in March You can order the book here.
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TRAILERS OF THE WEEK
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