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ANIME LTD ACQUIRED
STUDIOS COMBINE TO OPEN THE VAULT
WELCOME TO FUN CITY
STUDIOCANAL LIKES IT RAW…
…ADDS MONSTERS RELEASE…
BECKER TO THE FUTURE…
…AS DRIVER REVS UP
IN FOR A PENNY…
…AS MORE FAN TALES ARRIVE
ALTITUDE CELEBRATES
VHS STILL RULES
HMV AWARDS UPDATE
TWEET OF THE WEEK TRAILERS OF THE WEEK
The Raygun: better late than never. Other commitments and work projects have caused a delay, but back again early next week…
We’ve been following the fortunes of Glasgow-based independent Japanese animation specialist Anime Ltd for some time, noting its theatrical successes and, better still, its growing reputation as an increasingly savvy influential and home entertainment operator too, so it’s with keen interest that we note the company has been acquired by German film company Plaion Pictures, a subsidiary of the Plaion Group, formerly known as Koch Media. Andrew Partridge, MD and co-founder of Anime Ltd, said: “We are looking forward to joining the team of PLAION, with whom we have already successfully collaborated via both our French and Scottish offices. Together, we are in a unique position to deliver a bespoke and streamlined approach for our business in each of the core territories in Europe. I am excited about the opportunities for growth that this deal represents.“ Cedric Littardi, co-founder and member of the board of Anime Ltd added: ‘I am happy to see that Anime Ltd. takes the next step in its development and becomes part ot a strong entertainment group with a clear vision and a promising strategy. I look forward to being able to further build up our business and unfold Anime Ltd.’s full potential to make Japanese pop culture content even more popular in Europe and the world.” Stefan Kapelari, CEO of PLAION PICTURES commented: “We welcome the team of Anime Ltd. to our group and look forward to join forces in strengthening our position as a key player in the marketing and distribution of Japanese popart content. Together, we become a pan-European publisher with the ability to deliver a 360 degree marketing & distribution service to our Japanese partners.”
Big announcement from studio giants Universal and Warner, who have joined forces to launch a new range for collectors called The Film Vault. The first batch of titles on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray is launching on December 12 with a quartet of biggies, all presented in newly commissioned artwork, with the specially packaged in acetate slipcase and clamshell packaging containing 4k and Blu-ray copies of the film, with large format artcards, a collectible, individually numbered crystal plaque, and, in three of the four, an “in-world artefact” relating to the film. The titles will be numbered to build up in to a collection of some of the world’s greatest films, with the first four including Blade Runner, Goodfellas, 1917 and Scarface. You can see unboxing videos for them here https://youtu.be/D1Wap9mNzaY, here https://youtu.be/uFlnHnXIQJ8, here https://youtu.be/Zz5879CgtyQ and https://youtu.be/HkfpxTD28t0. Comment on the range came from Universal’s head of marketing for catalogue and TV John Partridge said: “it’s exciting to be collaborating with Warner on a premium collector’s range. Our combined catalogues have some of the greatest movies of all time and we are thrilled to be bringing them together with entirely new artwork in the very best possible premium packaging that makes the unboxing experience as essential as the films they contain.”
Fledgling label Radiance Films, the company started by former Arrow mainstay Francesco Simeoni, has announced further titles after partnering with US distributor Fun City to launch Fun City Editions UK. The first two titles, due out in 2023, are impressive too – Jonathan Demme’s excellent late 1980s comedy Married To The Mob alongside the wonderful 70s Neo-noir Cutter’s Way, a superlative film from the director-led decade. As the announcement noted: “Radiance is proud to present Fun City Editions UK, the celebrated label from the US which is focused on reissues of maverick repertory cinema that can best be described as works that exist "outside of their time." Spanning an array of genres, artists and countries, but with a unifying focus on forgotten and overlooked treasures, each Fun City release will present new restorations and comprehensive extras which contextualize and illuminate the artistic and historic value of the piece.” Radiance’s Simeoni told The Raygun: “I’ve admired Fun City for a long time but recognised that many fans simply don’t import releases or would prefer a cheaper local alternative so doing these releases in the UK as anything but Fun City seemed silly when the great work had already been done by an exemplary label so launching Fun City UK seemed not only the right thing to do but also something fresh and exciting for consumers. Their mission is close to that of Radiance so it feels like a harmonious partnership for fans.”
Studiocanal is continuing to mine its library – one of the biggest and best in the business – to great effect, with both world cinema offerings and mainstream Hollywood biggies continuing to provide a rich and diverse slate of titles. And there’s a flurry of activity in the coming months too. Monday October 24 saw one of those latter titles arriving in the shape of Arnold Schwarzenegger classic Raw Deal making it to shelves in a sparkling, restored version. The company’s Nicola Browning said: “Monday sees the release of another of our Arnold Schwarzenegger titles, the action thriller Raw Deal. Restored in stunning 4K, it will be released in UHD, Blu-ray, DVD and, for the first time, on digital services. Supported by a full ABL and publicity campaign the title is a welcome addition to our growing fully restored UHD library.”
This presages a wave of titles, with another classic title (and one that we can show our age by too, having seen it on its original theatrical release. Here’s Studiocanal’s Nicola Browning again. She said: “November sees another BIG release from the Studiocanal library in the form of King Kong. Starring fresh faced dude Jeff Bridges, Jessica Lange and the late great Charles Grodin, the 1976 version of the famous story has been restored in 4K and comes complete with the longer US TV edit. Available in UHD, Blu-ray, DVD and digital release, there is also an additional UHD Steelbook sku with artwork by famous comic book artist Francesco Francavilla.”
And there’s more too, this time from France, with more in November as outlined by Studiocanal’s Mona Schlotter, who said: “Next month sees some very exciting editions to our acclaimed Vintage World Cinema Collection. Jacques Becker’s masterpiece Casque D’or is 50 years old – in celebration we are releasing a brand new 4K restoration of this French classic, starring Simone Signoret in her most acclaimed role and featuring a host of brand-new extras. In a further nod to the brilliance of Jacques Becker, we will also be releasing a boxset of the auteurs finest work, with 5 of his films included – a welcome addition to our much-loved ‘Auteurs collection’ and the perfect Christmas gift for film lovers.”
And finally, and into December and there’s more classic Amercana in the shape of The Driver. Studicanal’s Alison Arber said: “Walter Hills 1978 classic THE DRIVER is speeding its way onto UHD for the first time! Cited by Quentin Tarantino as one of the coolest films ever made and the inspiration for Edgar Wrights Baby Driver, this stunning 4K restoration includes brand new extra features with an exclusive masterclass from Walter Hill himself. Out December 5 on UHD, Blu-ray, Steelbook and digital.”
In stores on Monday October 24, keenly timed ahead of Halloween, is the release from Kaleidoscope of Pennywise The Story Of It, which charts the history of one of Stephen King’s finest creations, which has had a commercial lifespan far beyond all his other characters. Comment on the title came from the company’s Spencer Pollard, who said: "We are very excited by the release on physical of Pennywise next week. The fanbase have already enjoyed the digital release three weeks ago and the fully loaded DVD release with a ton of extras and the BD with an exclusive Poster for the first 1,000 units means we’ve seen excellent pre orders and interest in the film, which was trending on initial US release up there with Love Island -showing the true power of Pennywise globally.”
The release of Pennywise as outlined above is one of a few forthcoming titles from Kaleidoscope that see the company exploring new commercial avenues, as explained by the company’s Adam Sergeant. He said: "It’s one of a number of fan driven titles we have coming in the weeks ahead, alongside ‘Whoniverse’ documentary, Doctor Who Am I, and the adaptation of the West End musical, Tomorrow Morning, starring Ramin Karimloo, Fleur East and Samantha Barks, amongst others!"
To the Union in Soho’s Greek Street to celebrate the 1oth birthday party of distributor and production and International film sales company Altitude. It was marking a decade in the business since it was launched by Optimum founder and former Studiocanal UK chief Will Clarke. The 10 years in operation has seen the co many put together a slate of amazing films from its production arm, as well as putting out a raft of equally strong and commercial fare across theatrical and home entertainment. Notable successes have included international outings (Minari), homegrown hits (Rocks), music documentaries (Hitsville, Crock Of Gold, Whitney), sports docs (Busby, Diego Maradona) and home entertainment friendly fare ranging from Lancaster and Spitfire to genre titles such as Black Water Abyss. The anniversary came as the company picked up to BASE Awards for its work on the excellent Minari, and also as Blue Jean, a big forthcoming release, played to rave reviews and packed audiences at London Film Festival. The company’s Adam Eldrett said: “It was wonderful to get together and celebrate the 10th anniversary of Altitude, what better time than in the middle of the LFF. We are currently planning out our theatrical and subsequent home entertainment releases of Blue Jean and All The Beauty and the Bloodshed, both of which are fantastic titles to have on our ever-eclectic slate in the coming months.’
We’ve been tracking horror franchise V/H/S since Momentum released the first title in the series some years ago, the company turning an east London venue into a rental shop and producing actual VHS cassettes (in association with The Raygun) to mark the event (and yes, we’ve still got our copy), so we tuned into the latest instalment, V/H/S 99, a Shudder-backed exclusive, as soon as it appeared on the streaming service last week. And it seems like we weren’t alone. For, like its predecessor, the anthology found footage film has set new records on the horror specialist platform. According to a statement from the company: “Through its first four days of release, the film registered 28 per cent more unique viewers than the previous record holder, V/H/S/94, which premiered on Shudder in 2021. V/H/S/99 also accounted for nearly 22 per cent of all on-demand streams on Shudder during the same time period and was AMC+’s number one most watched movie of the weekend.” Shudder general manager Craig Engler said: “By every metric V/H/S/99 has been a wild success, with subscribers watching in record numbers and debating with each other on social media about which segment of the anthology was their favourite. We are thrilled that the revival of the series continues to be embraced by our audience, and already looking forward to next year’s V/H/S/85.”
And gremlins, we’re afraid, crept into our BASE Awards special after the event and a production error meant the full judges’ comments on HMV’s award as Physical Retailer, so we’re happy to publish them here. The judges noted: “HMV is the deserved winner tonight as it continues to champion physical formats. HMV invested heavily in super-serving the Highstreet and entertainment fans when shops reopened post pandemic, and their commitment to growth, with multiple new store openings, and their vision and continuing partnership for and with the category, give consumers choice and range at a local and regional level, providing shoppers with much-wanted browsing space and time, and serving physical fans across all formats, from great value DVDs to the strong promotion of premium exclusives, and high value and 4K UHD.” Congratulations again and apologies…
AT THE MOVIES
Our London Film Festival this yeawr was somewhat truncated due to the pressures of doing the Raygun and keeping another job on the go, although we saw a few belters (The Son and the Cymande documentary among them), but it’s good to hear from organisers, who noted the success of the event, with occupancy across events higher than pre-pandemic levels. BFI London Film Festival Director Tricia Tuttle said: “From the Opening Night Gala World Premiere of Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical through to our Closing Gala with the European Premiere of Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, there was a strong feeling of celebration and community across the 66th BFI London Film Festival. This was a reflection of the extraordinary quality of the films, series and immersive works, but also created by the buzz of packed houses seeing these works together, supported by the presence filmmakers and talent from around the world. UK audiences are not quick to give standing ovations and we witnessed a few this year – hearteningly for a number of debut feature films which world premiered this year, as well as for big emotional moments in our Gala venue at Royal Festival Hall. The Festival exists to help create awareness and space for wider range of internationally and formally diverse work to reach audiences and we hope this is a sign of brighter times to come for independent cinemas everywhere in the coming months.”
Biggest film news swirling around is the news that James Gunn, who’s worked for both Marvel and DC projects, has been lined up by Warner to head up its new DC Studios arm to oversee all the superhero films from the company. He’ll still be working on film and TV for them, but also ensuring the kind of symmetry and cross-pollination that has worked so well for Marvel with Kevin Feige. Gunn is partnering with his producing pal Peter Safran. “We’re hono
red to be the stewards of these DC characters we’ve loved since we were children. We look forward to collaborating with the most talented writers, directors, and actors in the world to create an integrated, multi-layered universe that still allows for the individual expression of the artists involved. Our commitment to Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Harley Quinn, and the rest of the DC stable of characters is only equalled by our commitment to the wonder of human possibility these characters represent. We’re excited to invigorate the theatrical experience around the world as we tell some of the biggest, most beautiful, and grandest stories ever told.”
TWEET OF THE WEEK
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TRAILERS OF THE WEEK
Making noise for Quiet…
Roys are done roving…
Five years ahead of its time…
Ant-Music
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