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THE BATMAN’S FREE SNEAK HOME PREVIEW
DON’T LOOK UP: NETFLIX’S BAD WEEK
COST OF LIVING TO HIT SVOD?
KANTAR NOTES INFLATIONARY PRESSURE
TITLES IN THE BANK…
…BFI’S NEW STORE IN THE SPOTLIGHT
MODERN LOOK FOR SHOP
SUMMER ARRIVES IN STORES
CANOE BELIEVE IT?
A SOUVENIR TO TAKE HOME
REEVE ON GENERAL RELEASE
HELD FOR THE WEEK
BULLDOG TWISTS THE MELON
OUT OF THE SHADOWS
FAIR’S FAIR
HAVE A COW, MAN
AT THE MOVIES TWEET OF THE WEEK
TRAILERS OF THE WEEK
The Batman, one of the biggest hits of the year so far, had double cause for celebration as the film passed the £40m mark at Uk cinemas – only the fourth DC film to do so – and also landed on digital sites as a premium rental title. What’s more, to mark the occasion, Warner also made the first 10 minutes of the Robert Pattinson take on the Dark Knight available to watch for free on YouTube as a preview to pique the interest of potential renters who need a nudge to shell out the £15 or so to have a look at the film…
It’s been a bad week for Netflix, what with the slump in its share price following news of the slowing down of subscriber numbers at the streaming giant and a raft of reaction and features – you can expect more in the coming days as entertainment writers, business journalists and more weigh in with their opinions on what Netflix needs to get right. One interesting possible side-effect might be to shift consumers back to other options, including physical media. As one punter on social media noted: “In light of Netflix subscriber losses, here’s a periodic reminder we can still rent discs (including Blu-ray) to get that premium movie content we so desire that they rarely stream.” There are rumours of ad-supported offerings (making it more like the standard TV it was going to replace) and more bad news about its renewals policy for ongoing series (many have been dropped) and cancellations of other projects, notably animation. There’s also rumours about plans to clampdown on password sharing to help drive up numbers again, although whether this will damage its business and push people back to physical (or, heaven forbid, piracy).
We’ll have more next week, but analysts at Kantar were already noting the problems that Netflix was experiencing and also discussing the effect the UK’s cost of living crisis will have on streaming. Video and home entertainment, going back to the VHS rental days, has always been notably recession-proof, as it was a relatively low cost activity, but keeping a plethora of streaming subscriptions is completely different. Kantar’s latest Entertainment on Demand study noted that the number of GB households subscribing to at least one service had fallen in the first quarter, with many cancelling services citing money-saving. In its report, Kantar said: “With inflation in the United Kingdom hitting 6 per cent during the first quarter of 2022, and further rises in energy and fuel costs likely, we have evidence that households are starting to seriously prioritise where and how their disposable income is spent. The overall household penetration rate for GB’s streaming market declined for only the second time ever. Churn rates increased almost across the board, but there was a clear difference in scale of attrition outside of Netflix and Amazon. Netflix and Amazon can be seen to be hygiene subscriptions for Brits; the last to go when households are forced to prioritise spend. Disney, NOW, Discovery+ and BritBox all saw significant jumps in churn rates quarter on quarter. The reasons behind churn also indicate inflation is top of consumers’ minds, with a third of those who cancelled an SVoD service in the quarter saying it was ‘to save money’, a jump from 28 per vent the previous quarter. Furthermore, planned SVoD service cancellation is rising, with ‘wanting to save money’ the driving factor accounting for 38% of planned cancellations in Q2. This is reinforced by the lowest ever rate of new subscribers - just 3 per cent of households signed up to a new SVoD subscription over the quarter, down from 4.2 per cent a year earlier.”
Kantar continued: “With many streaming services having witnessed significant revenue growth during the height of Covid, this moment will be sobering. The evidence from these findings suggests that British households are now proactively looking for ways to save, and the SVoD market is already seeing the effects of this. As a result, it’s now more critical than ever that SVoD providers demonstrate to consumers how their services are indispensable in the home in what has become a heavily competitive market. New marketing and content acquisition strategies will likely need to be deployed to support this and avoid further churn.”
The Raygun has paid a few visits to the wonderful Reuben Library at BFI Southbank recently, researching assorted projects, trawling through the video trade press archives and more (followers of our world famous Twitter account will have seen some of the amazing images we’ve been posting), and, while down there, we’ve had the opportunity to have a stroll around the new BFI store located next to the box office desk. And what a marvel it is too. Seemingly more compact than its predecessor – it’s actually the same size and space as the former outlet – it’s great to see the wealth of titles on offer. The shop holds some 10,000 different SKUs, taking in Blu-ray, DVD, gifts, merchandise, books and more, although home entertainment takes up much of the shelf space. It’s so good, we spoke to the man in charge there, Martin Laws, to get his views on the new area and talk a bit more about it. “It’s lovely, it’s a big improvement on the space we had before,” Laws told us. “And it’s been enjoying really good sales since we opened.” As to the layout, he noted:”It’s very similar to the way we did it before, it’s worked over the years and we've enhanced it based on customer feedback and sales. It works with a slight mix of genre, a slight mix of label and also doing it by county as well. Doing it by country is has its difficulties, because you don’t want to pigeonhole things, but it’s particularly handy for students. A lot of our customers are collectors, they want to see labels like Criterion and Arrow together.”
More on the BFI Southbank shop and as well as shelves bursting with front-facing product as well as those racked by spines (labels with a generic look, such as SecondRun, look amazingly good, there are also tables with titles laid out that tie in with BFI seasons – we saw Luv Ullmann titles, a Nigel Kneale selection and some anime titles. The store works closely with its colleagues on the BFI’s own home entertainment imprint, as well as others (“we have a great relationship with our suppliers,” said Laws), and also looks at price promotions. As Laws explained: “We tend to do promotions by label, we’ve just done a two for £25 offer with Criterion, where we can get a deal with a label, we’ll do a multi-buy price promotion. We won’t do it like the old days of retail where you couldn’t move for three for £20 and two for £15 offers.” As for the move towards better quality, Laws added: “Our transport films do really well on DVD, people want their collections all the same; core titles tend to be a 50/50 split between Blu-ray and DVD, while we have slightly higher sales for Blu-ray on new releases.”
One label whose wares were carefully laid out and displayed in one of the BFI shop’s tables were some of the recent releases from Modern Films. April 4 saw a flurry of DVD activity from the imprint, with a clutch of titles all out on the same day. These included some truly wonderful films, including I Am A Cliche, the documentary charting the amazing life and tragic death of punk priestess Boy Styrene (one of her band, X-Ray Spex, used to work at 1980s VHS label Virgin Vision, fact fans), as well as a doc about female electronic music pioneers Sisters With Transistors; Werner Herzog’s Family Romance LLC; Luxor starring Andrea Risebrough; the Viggo Mortensen directed Falling, in which he stars as the son of a man suffering from dementia; and another doc about a pioneering woman, Beyond The Visible, which studies trailblazing artist Hilma Af Klint. Next up from the equally trailblazing imprint is acclaimed Irish drama Wildfire, due from Modern Films on DVD on May 16.
In stores, it’s a massive week for Indies and some cracking titles are out. One of our favourite films of the last few years finally gets a richly deserved deluxe Blu-ray release on Monday April 25 as the excellent Days Of The Bagnold Summer lands courtesy of Anti-Worlds. The film is the directorial debut of former Inbetweeners star Simon Bird and is a wonderful coming-of-age drama, deeply funny and surprisingly tender. This tale of a suburban summer and a mum and her heavy metal loving son muddling through, sees star turns from Earl Cave, son of Nick, and Monica Dolan, alongside cameos from the likes of Rob Brydon, Alice Lowe and Tamsin Greig. Anti-Worlds has put together a sumptuous package that the film truly earns, as proven by its strong review. As The Guardian noted, it is a thoroughly sweet-natured, charming and unassuming British film”. Anti-World’s Andy Starke said: “It’s been such a pleasure to work closely with the film makers to present a deep dive into Simon’s film – something only physical media can do!”
Meanwhile, Monica Dolan also stars in another big title out on April 25, with Dazzler’s release of The Thief, His Wife And The Canoe following its high profile transmission on ITV.. The four-parter, screening over successive nights, drew plenty of coverage and online comment as it recounted the unlikely true story of the man dubbed Canoe Man in the press. Commenting on the release, the company’s Paul Holland said: “This week's drama on the TV screens of the UK has been led by ITV's story of the unbelievable events of John and Anne Darwin. John who faked his own disappearance to seek a bounty of life insurance gripped over 4 million each night as it went out over four nights, with over 7 million expected to have seen the series by the end of the week. The Pick Of The Week in The Sunday Times and The Guardian, Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph, Metro, iNews all gave it four stars or more, while Social Media was packed full of praise. Out on Monday on our favourite format, the DVD... rumours that the Dazzler team will be canoeing down the Thames to promote the film have yet to be confirmed.”
Also arriving on Monday is the film voted by UK and international critics in Sight And Sound as the best of of 2021 in the shape of The Souvenir Part 2, courtesy of Picturehouse. Joanna Hogg’s autobiographical drama follows in the footsteps of its 2019 predecessor, which was also voted the year’s best by writers. Commenting on the release for Picturehouse Entertainment Bill Sich said: "We're incredibly excited to be releasing Joanna Hogg's masterful sequel to The Souvenir. The film received extensive critical acclaim with many of the five star reviews praising it as one of the films of the year. Led by Honor Swinton Byrne, the performances are outstanding across the board with Richard Ayoade particularly funny in his role as a (very) temperamental director! This does tend to be said about a lot of releases but this wonderful new film is genuinely unmissable"
Another interesting release arrives on Monday from Screenbound, in the shape of a limited edition boxset bringing together the output of Michael Reeves. The company’s sales and marketing manager Martin Glew is delighted with the presale figures of Michael Reeves limited edition Blu-ray collection and said: “Over 50 years has passed since the untimely death of Michael Reeves, but the intrigue and appreciation of his work lives on. So much so that this 2000 limited edition Blu-ray collection has already sold 60 per cent of its stock in presales. This collection includes Castle of the Living Dead, first time on Blu-Ray in the UK, Reeve's most iconic work Witchfinder General, his last picture The Sorcerers and a brand new feature length documentary The Young General starring Ian Ogilvy.
And more from the Indies, as Bulldog has not one but two interesting titles in stores, as outlined by the company’s Phil Hoile. He said: “We’re really pleased to be putting out two very strong and very different physical releases next week. HELD is a compelling thriller/horror which delivers a powerful message wrapped inside a thrilling high-concept set-up as a couple’s escape to an isolated holiday home becomes a nightmare when all the doors and windows automatically lock and they are forced to obey the commands of an unseen voice. Though perhaps not one to take on a weekend away, we’re sure it will satisfy audiences hungry for a tense, edge-of-the-seat genre film to entertain them on a night in, in the safety of their own home.”
And on to the second title from Bulldog, and, on All I Can Say, the company’s Phil Hoile said: “Fresh from a theatrical/digital bow where it received rave reviews, ALL I CAN SAY will arrive on disc with a fantastic Q&A extra including the directors in conversation with music doc festival/specialists Doc’n roll. The film is both a fascinating archive of pre-internet 1990s culture and a philosophical study of fame and celebrity crafted entirely from the intimate video-diaries and phone recordings of Shannon Hoon, late singer of the grunge-era rock band Blind Melon. It is far from an average music documentary, and has something of real interest to an audience much wider than just fans or those familiar with the band.”
More independent news and it’s a big week for Lightbulb, with a title in stores on Monday and a big theatrical bow on Friday. In stores on the 25th is Shadows and the company’s Matthew Kreuzer said: “Ee are very pleased with the retail support Elevation have secured for us and are looking forward to strong DVD and Digital sales this week. The film stars Mia Threapleton – Kate Winslet’s daughter – and will be available on all key Digital platforms from Monday.:
Arriving in cinemas this coming weekend weekend is that theatrical bow fromfrom Lightbulb which we think is well worth keeping an eye on, in the shape of We’re All Going To The World’s Fair, part horror, part coming of age drama, set in a world of YouTube and online pressures and a genuinely unique film. It has built up a head of steam since its debut at Sundance last year, It still boasts a 90 per vent plus rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which concluded: “Narratively challenging and visually haunting, We're All Going to the World's Fair adds a uniquely ambitious and unsettling entry to the crowded coming-of-age genre.” Out at cinemas on April 29 before heading to home ent in May(more soon), the company’s Matthew Kreuzer said: “Lightbulb are delighted to be bringing We’re All Going To The World’s Fair to Cinemas nationwide (from 29th April). The film is an exploration of modern internet culture, captured through a chilling coming-of-age story, where teenager, Casey, becomes immersed in an online role-playing game. The film premiered at Sundance last year and has since screened at numerous international genre festivals – including Fantasia and Grimmfest (UK premiere). We’re All Going To The World’s Fair is director Jane Schoenbrun’s debut feature, who is currently working in collaboration with A24 and Emma Stone’s production company, Fruit Tree, on her next project. The sountrack was written and performed by Alexander Giannascoli (better known as Alex G).”
Some updates from MUBI, which continues to make waves with its acquisitions strategy, picking up big films for its curated streaming service, as well as adding to its home entertainment April. Monday (18 April) saw the DVD and Blu-ray release of the BAFTA-nominated COW, the first documentary from acclaimed British filmmaker Andrea Arnold. It's the latest title in what has been a very active year for MUBI, whose recent home ent titles include 2021 Cannes opener ANNETTE, fellow BAFTA nominee PETITE MAMAN and the Icelandic horror LAMB. Here's the company's Daniel Green on their latest offering: "We're delighted to be adding Andrea Arnold's COW to our growing collection of DVD and Blu-ray releases. MUBI are committed to offering the very best cinema in cinemas, on MUBI and on physical formats, and we've been overwhelmed by the fantastic support our expanding catalogue continues to receive across our retail partners.”
AT THE MOVIES
Idris Elba is as busy as ever, with the latest announcement from the multi-talented multi-hyphenate centring on his ongoing deal with Apple TV+. It has unveiled a new seven part series, Hijack, which will appear on the streaming service as part of its ongoing deal with Elba’s Green Door Pictures. Told in real time, it tracks a hijacked plane travelling across the Atlantic that is hijacked. Elba stars as a businessman who must use his skills to talk his – and his fellow passengers’ – way out of the sticky situation. No date for airing has been confirmed.
Spider-fans are going to have to wait a little bit longer for the next adventures of their wall-crawling, web-slinging hero as the net animated outing for Peter Parker and his assorted aliases and incarnations is being put back until next year. Spider-Man: Across The Spider-verse, the sequel to Spider-Man: Into The Spider-verse, will now be released at the start of June 2023, rather than later in 2022. Never fear though, if your spider-sense is tingling, as this is down to scheduling and not to any hiccups or problems in production (or, for that matter, any scandal involving people involved in the film).
As many as of you will have noticed, there’s been a raft of successful video game to film adaptations recently, after a lengthy struggle to make any successful movie takes on popular franchises. There’s also been a slew of features noting how video game films are now hot property, so it’s no surprise to see the Minecraft film stepping up a gear. The projet, which appeared to be stalled at Warner, is now back on the slate again, with a big name said to be potentially involved (it’s hunky Warner favourite Jason Momoa) and a director (Napoleon Dynamite’s Jared Hess) also in talks.
TWEET OF THE WEEK
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TRAILERS OF THE WEEK
We’ve already made the “buzz around this one” gag, so will refrain again…
More Attenborough…
We’re going to dash to see this when it opens…
We’re all going to We’re All Going To…
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