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BOX OFFICE FIGURES: GRIM READING?
MEGA MOVIE WEEKENDS SUCCEED OVERSEAS…
…WITH JAPAN SEEING INCREASED DIGITAL SALES AND RENTALS
NEXT UK MEGA MOVIE WEEKEND DUE…
…WITH REVIEW AND EXTENDED CAMPAIGN TO FOLLOW
BASE LAUNCHES NEW TRAILER
FALL GUY HEADS TO PREMIUM VOD
SECOND RUN ON THE MERRY-GO-ROUND
IMAGINARY IS FOR REAL
MONSTER MOVIE FROM PICTUREHOUSE
EUREKA MAKES NOISE ABOUT STAN & OLLIE SILENTS…
…WITH MORE MARTIAL ARTS DUE TOO
PHYSICAL MEDIA BANDWAGON CONTINUES
TRAILERS OF THE WEEK
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It was a good week for… HD disc sales as Dune: Part Two, out in the US on physical formats last week (UK this week), saw some 83 per cent of its week one sales coming from HD formats – 33 per cent on Blu-ray and a whopping 50 per cent on 4K…
It was a bad week for… Lots of speculation about the state of the box office after Furiosa's opening…
We have been watching… We were there on the day of Furiosa's opening and it;s an absolute treat…
Anyone watching the wider entertainment business over the Bank Holiday weekend – not just in the UK either, as Monday was Memorial Day in the US – can’t have failed to have noticed the collective hand-wringing going on after the weekend’s box office figures were unveiled. The figures for the US suggest that the weekend’s takings at cinema were one of the worst ever experienced for Memorial Day business, with Furiosa offering the worst opening for more than 40 years over this, a key holiday weekend in the US. There has been plenty written on the state of the box office following the weekend – Furiosa opened to more than $30 million in the US and more than £2 million here, both down on its revived Mad Max franchise predecessor Fury Road. Analysts, industry observers, box office experts and more have been looking at what went wrong and the jury is still out… Is it the lack of originality and reliance on franchise material? Are cinemagoers wise to the fact that a film will turn up on premium vod in a few weeks so they don’t need to rush to their local theatre on the opening weekend? Are tickets too expensive? How much have last year’s strikes had an impact on production and output? What about the threat of streaming? Gaming? The competition for consumers’ eyeballs across all forms of entertainment? What about the continued fallout from Covid and changing habits? As The Fall Guy lands on premium vod, everyone is keenly watching the figures and more and more hopes are being pinned on Deadpool & Wolverine as the saviour of summer box office. It’s going to be an interesting summer and speculation – and endless thinkpieces on whether theatrical is broken and what is happening to film and TV entertainment. For what’s it worth, Furiosa is a cracking film – we were there on opening day down at the Finsbury Park Picturehouse – and it’s home entertainment gold, not just in digital, as this kind of film is made for a physical media audience. And we’ll end with a note from Deadline’s box office coverage “It’s all about product. Theatrical isn’t broken. Dune, Godzilla x Kong proved earlier this year that audiences have an appetite for moviegoing. Ditto for Barbie and Oppenheimer last summer, and Top Gun: Maverick and Little Mermaid last Memorial Day weekend.”
And talking of weekends, interesting to note the latest results from the Digital Entertainment Group International, aka DEGI, surrounding its Mega Movie Weekend digital promotional activity in another overseas territory. The concept was birthed by DEGI and the UK’s own trade association BASE and has since successful travelled to markets across the globe. The latest was Japan, where DEGI, working with local studio representatives and distributors, across VOD and EST, with 12 leading digital retailers offering up more than 70 films from four distributors at reduced prices. It caused a 145 per cent increase in EST sales value for the week it ran for, with a 135 per cent increase in VID usage in volume terms at the same time. The DEGI announcement continued: “It showcased a positive return on investment (ROI), especially in the VOD sector, with a notable rise in +6 units per ¥200 invested.”
Comment on the success of the Mega Movie Weekend in Japan came from NBC Universal VP for APAC digital distribution Chris Parrott, who said: “It’s been fantastic to see the industry come together and collaborate on our first ever Mega Movie Week event in Japan. The campaign delivered on our objective of increasing awareness of the availability of recent movies and timeless classics to buy or rent. Not only increased awareness, but customers are increasingly embracing this opportunity to buy or rent recent movies in the comfort of their own homes, ad-free. We look forward to building on this early success and bringing movie lovers in Japan more Mega Movie Week events into the future.” DEGI and BASE chief executive Liz Bales added: “Working with colleagues in Japan to create a campaign which speaks directly to Japanese consumers, built from local insights and promoting local and international content, has been a great experience and highlights both the unique characteristics of the Japanese home entertainment sector and the rich expertise of the industry community. We are delighted with the strong results of this first activity and hope to grow activities and provide further support where our Japanese colleagues welcome it. My thanks to everyone who supported.”
Mega Movie Weekend is continuing its ongoing promotional activity in the UK, with its most recent offering just a few weeks ago. So how is it performing over here? BASE and DEGI chief executive said that not only is it enjoy strong results, but, after a final June promotion, there will be a review of the initiative with a view to continuing and extending it later in 2024. She said: “Our mission is to support our members in pursuing value creation through practical, collaborative, cross-industry consumer promotions that enhance audience engagement. The latest example, Mega Movie Weekend, helps audiences expand their digital libraries with fantastic titles at promotional prices and encourages regular store visits. We are immensely grateful to the participating retailers—Amazon Prime Video, Sky Store, the Apple TV app, Rakuten TV, Virgin Media, and EE TV Store—and the collaborating studios—Crunchyroll, Lionsgate, Paramount Pictures, Signature Entertainment, Sony Pictures, Spirit Entertainment, StudioCanal, Universal Pictures, and Warner Bros. Discovery—for their crucial roles in the campaign's success. We have received solid results and positive feedback from our retail and studio partners across the last seven months. A final activation will run in June, with a robust review now taking place to look at opportunities to extend this campaign further into 2024.”
Sticking with BASE and another regular piece of promotional activity from the organisation is its quarterly trailer tape, and it has just released the latest instalment highlighting current and forthcoming product from BASE members in the home entertainment sector, across digital and physical media. It features the likes of Bob Marley: One Love, Dune: Part 2, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Hamlet, Harry Wild - Series 2, Imaginary, Kung Fu Panda 4, Little Eggs: A Frozen Rescue, Madame Web, Mean Girls, Raging Bull - The Criterion Collection, Ship Of the Damned, Suzume - Limited Edition, The Bell Keeper, The Fall Guy, The Famous Five, The Iron Claw, The Lavender Hill Mob - Limited Collector's Edition, The Promised Land, andWicked Little Letters. It’s up on BASE social media accounts and has also been sent out to relevant press. You can see it here.
The first official blockbuster film of the summer was, as most pundits have noted, Universal’s The Fall Guy and just as The Raygun was going to press, Universal announced a release date for the home premiere of the action comedy starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. The film makes its home premiere to buy or rent on June 3, with the premium digital release coming while the film is still in cinemas. Moreover, Universal is making it available in a new, lengthier version, with The fly Guy Extended Cut featuring an additional 20 minutes of material, offering what Universal said was "never-before-seen footage featuring more action, more laughs and more stunts”. The film is just about to pass £10 million at UK cinemas and as The Guardian noted: "It’s a celebration of blockbuster movies and their illusions of grandeur made by dozens and dozens of people working in concert, mostly below the line, and specifically the under-appreciated work of stunt doubles. It’s also just a consistently good time, two hours of zingers with impeccable timing, two bona fide movie stars with palpable chemistry, several enjoyably meta send-ups of the business and, of course, plenty of crazy stunts.” Comment came from Universal’s Stephanie Don, who said: “We’re excited to see The Fall Guy landing on Premium on Monday with an all-new Extended Cut and action-packed campaign that will tap into moments around the upcoming Euros.”
This week’s releases and we’ve already covered off the biggie. Dune: Part Two, but there was plenty else in store on Monday May 27, including Bob Marley biopic One Love from Paramount. There’s also another interesting release from Second Run DVD in the shape of Merry-Go-Round. Word on the release comes form Second Run’s Chris Barwick, who said: “Voted recently by international critics as one of the ‘10 Best Hungarian Films of All Time’, this 1955 romantic gem is a classic in its home country, but had not – until now – been distributed widely outside of Hungary, despite being championed at the time by the likes of François Truffaut, Jean Cocteau and Lindsay Anderson. We hope our Blu-ray edition, presented from a 4K restoration by the Hungarian Film Institute, will introduce this beloved work, and its acclaimed director Zoltán Fábri, to new audiences.”
Moving on to the following Monday, June 3, and the he latest from Lionsgate, Imaginary, is due to land on physical formats in stores next week, following its digital bow to rent or buy on May 27. It’s a smart horror from Blumhouse, with the production outfit currently making some of the finest genre fare out there. Comment came fro, Lionsgate’s Imogen Dodds, who said: “Following a fantastic theatrical run which has seen Imaginary become the biggest horror title of 2024 so far, we launched on PVOD/PEST on April 22, followed by standard EST which will launch on May 27 and packaged media on June 3. You will get the chance to bring Chauncey home…if you dare, in both DVD and BD formats featuring behind-the-scenes that take you into the twisted world of Imaginary.”
Also due in stores next Monday, June 3, is the latest from Hirokazu Kore-eda, the Japanese director and Cannes favourite, whose extensive filmography includes the excellent Shoplifters. Monster earned him a best screenplay gong at the festival in the south of France and lands on home entertainment formats courtesy of Picturehouse Entertainment, which also released it at cinemas. It earned the kind of rave notices that you’d expect from a director of the stature of Kore-eda, with the Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw noting: “This is a film created with a great moral intelligence and humanity.” Comment on its home entertainment bow came from Picturehouse marketing manager Alice Werdine who said: ““It’s been incredible working with renowned director Kore-eda Hirokazu again. His films are truly striking, moving and unmissable masterpieces, and Monster is no different. The film is out on digital now, and will arrive on DVD and Special Edition Blu-ray on June 3.”
As ever, the past week or so has seen another boutique label announcing another month’s worth of releases and this time it was Eureka, announcing a trio of titles due in August. And here’s the company’s national account manager Marcus Garwood to talk us through the company’s releases for the summer month. He said: ”The digging and the sifting has taken place, and we have unearthed some true treasures for you this August here at Eureka Entertainment. First up, when you talk about treasures, they don’t come much finer than two of the most beloved comedians in the history of moving pictures, namely Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. We are excited to be bringing them to The Masters Of Cinema Series via a special two-disc Blu-ray edition. Entitled 'The Silent Years (1927)' the set brings together 15 silent shorts which captures the duo’s earliest (mis)adventures on screen, chronicling their journey from their first films together – The Lucky Dog and the aptly titled 45 Minutes to Hollywood – to the dawn of their official partnership in thirteen shorts released throughout 1927. From Duck Soup and Sailors Beware! to Do Detectives Think?, Putting Pants on Philip and The Battle of the Century (once available only in incomplete versions until its missing scenes were rediscovered in 2015), these films show the development of two independent comedians into the most influential and celebrated comedy duo of all time. The set will be encased in a limited edition O-card slipcase featuring new artwork by Scott Saslow. Disc extras include (amongst many others) scores by a variety of silent film composers including Neil Brand, Antonio Coppola, Eric le Guen and Donald Sosin, New interviews with silent film experts and audio commentary tracks on all films. The package is completed with a collector's booklet featuring newly written notes on each film by English comic actor, improvisational comedian, writer, presenter and comedy historian Paul Merton, plus a new essay by Imogen Sara Smith.”
Continuing with August releases from Eureka and the company’s Marcus Garwood said: “Yakuza genre master director Kinji Fukasaku next as we present his 1964 gem Wolves, Pigs And Men via The Master Of Cinema Series. Blending the staple themes of the Japanese gangster film with narrative and aesthetic qualities borrowed from the French New Wave and American film noir, Wolves, Pigs And Men stands as one of the finest yakuza movies of the 1960s. The film makes its UK debut here from a new restoration of the original film elements by Toei. The release will feature a limited edition O-card slipcase featuring new artwork by Grégory Sacré (Gokaiju), plus a collector’s booklet. Disc extras include (among others) audio commentary track by Jasper Sharp and an interview with Kinji Fukasaku’s biographer, Sadao Yamane. Our third release in August will be 1973's martial arts extravaganza A Man Called Tiger. Starring Jimmy Wang Yu (The One-Armed Swordsman) and directed by Lo Wei, the man behind the smash-hit Bruce Lee vehicles The Big Boss and Fist Of Fury, A Man Called Tiger was released at the height of an international kung fu craze. The film will be available here for the first time ever in the UK from a brand new 2K restoration. The release will feature a limited edition O-card slipcase featuring new artwork by Darren Wheeling, a limited edition reversible poster featuring original poster artwork, plus a limited edition collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by James Oliver.”
“[Christopher Nolan said:]… ‘the home video version is the thing that can always be there, so people can always access it’. The message certainly worked for Nolan. The 4K Ultra HD version of Oppenheimer sold out in its first week and copies changed hands on eBay for as much as $200. Oppenheimer Oscar winner Cillian Murphy proves Nolan’s point. He broke through in 2002’s zombie hit 28 Days Later but try finding that on a streamer. Or, to be fair, a new disc. eBay copies fetch over £50. And there are plenty of similar examples. Do you like David Lynch? Fancy watching his seminal debut Eraserhead? It’s sadly unavailable on streamers. Fancy Dawn of the Dead? Cocoon? Jack Nicholson in Prizzi’s Honor? Or are you a 1990s pop fan looking for Spice World? A Boomer yearning for thirtysomething? What about cop classic Homicide: Life on the Street? No subscription will give you these.” Yes, it’s standing up for physical media time again in the national press and after almost weekly stories in the newspaper, its counterparts at the Daily Telegraph have picked up on the same story and the quote here is from that. The piece, which you can see here also includes comment from BASE. Here’s more: “…the DVD format is very far from being for dads only. In the UK last year, disc sales were worth £170 million – including DVD, Blu-ray and 4K UHD – according to figures from the British Association for Screen Entertainment. Whilst this is not an enormous chunk of the total home entertainment market for the year, totalling £4.43bn, sales of Blu-ray are actually increasing. The desire for physical product in the digital age helped fund HMV’s return to its old Oxford Street store last November, after going into administration in 2019. ‘Physical visual entertainment sales are positive in the UK – it is a market highly serviced by fandom, who tend to buy the 4k high-end additional content version, which is a buoyant market because fans see it as the best out of cinema viewing experience,’ explained Louise Kean-Wood, head of marketing at BASE. ‘But also, the rise of streaming has started to present an ownership issue, especially for people juggling subscriptions. If you drop a sub, you may lose your favourite TV or film, certain TV shows that bounce around the streamers as the rights change hands so you suddenly can’t see it.’”
TRAILERS OF THE WEEK
Nic Cage in a post-apocalyptic setting, what else do you need to know?
Signature is messing with sharks again…
Big transfer to Netflix…
More juice…
Big Disney sequel…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPnNrd9Xc44
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