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BBFC APPOINTS...
...AND UNVEILS UNCUT SEASON
ARNIE TAKES THE STAND FOR LIONSGATE...
AS COMPANY RAMPS UP FOR EXPENDABLES
CHECKING IN TO SONY'S HOTEL
A BAD PR CAMPAIGN
GO SETS OFF ON TOUR
BBC CARRIES OLYMPIC TORCH
PARAMOUNT SHOWS OFF FOR TREKKERS
DWARF'S IN THE RED
BROOKIE'S BACK
EONE GOES FOR A RIDE…
…AND TAKES ON A KILLER
SURVEY'S A HORROR SHOW
MOVING AND SHAKING
AT THE MOVIES
TWEET OF THE WEEK
TRAILERS OF THE WEEK
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It Was A Good Week For… Anyone who got to shake Arnie's hand...
It Was A Bad Week For… Anyone caught up in the crush or spillages while trying to get near Schwarzenegger…
It's been a busy week for the BBFC, with the organisation unveiling a new president as well as revealing more details of the latest element of its centenary celebrations. The BBFC announced that Patrick Swaffer has taken over the reins as president from Quentin Thomas, who stepped down after 10 years. Swaffer is a well-known figure at the classification body, having worked as a legal adviser there, one of his numerous legal roles. He reiterated the BBFC's plans to make its mark in an increasingly digital world, saying that it was working closely with online content providers. He said: "I am delighted to have been appointed President of the BBFC in their centenary year – a remarkable achievement of longevity reflecting the continuing public desire for the prior classification of films and DVDs. The BBFC is an independent and self-financing body acting solely in the public interest. The classification of films and DVDs and the provision of additional consumer advice allow members of the public, particularly parents, to make informed viewing choices. Where necessary the BBFC steps in to protect the public, particularly children, from content that might cause them harm. The classification guidelines published by the BBFC, and its consistent and clear approach to classification issues, have ensured that it continues to enjoy the trust of the public, the local authorities and the film industry. The BBFC’s well known and widely recognised classification symbols are now not only seen at the cinema and on DVDs but also on many websites where films may be viewed or downloaded. The BBFC encourages this responsible approach and is working with online content providers to offer a range of services to meet the public demand for classification and full information. Some 90 per cent of parents wish to see the BBFC’s symbols on film downloads.”
Meanwhile, more details have emerged about the BFI Southbank's forthcoming Uncut season, which lookat the BBFC's work over the past 100 years and focuses on some of the more controversial films that caused it problems over the years and were either banned or cut. Many of them are video-related, and, as we noted here recently, the BFI is already planning a number of releases around the season. It runs throughout November and will include a UK premiere of the full, uncut version of Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom, as well as notorious "nasties" such as The Evil Dead. There will be specially made sections, debates as well as an exhibition and accompanying book (one that's on our Christmas list already). Anyone with an interest in our business should be linng up to see some of these classics. BBFC director David Cooke said: "The BBFC’s centenary gives us a double opportunity: to showcase our initiatives for making the BBFC a still more trusted and up to date guide to the public in the internet age; and to celebrate the sometimes controversial, sometimes quirky, but always absorbing history of film classification in the UK. I am grateful to those who have made this film season possible, and especially to our industry partners and to the BFI. I am also grateful to the BFI for other collaborative work including on the centenary book and exhibition. This will be a really fascinating film season, showcasing films which, as well as being important films in their own right, raised classification issues which in many cases go to the heart of the balance between freedom of expression and the grounds for intervention. It also adds up to an unmissable slice of British culture and social history.” Details are here.
 To top London niterie Sketch for an evening with Arnold Schwarzenegger. No, really, there we were, in the same room as one of Hollywood's biggest superstars. The reason? Well, The Raygun, assorted retailers and digital operators were invited by Lionsgate to mark Arnie's arrival in town and his impending return to starring roles with the company in its 2013 release, The Last Stand. Numerous journalists and other industry types were there, and although he was also in town to promote his autobiography, Total Recall, Arnie was heavily promoting the film. He praised Lionsgage and its UK chief Zygi Kamasa, as well as pledging to return closer to the release date, using his obligatory "I'll be back" catchphrase. If anyone doubts his pull, they should have seen the crowds of people swarming around him, desperate to meet the star. A handful of lucky retailers, and us at The Raygun, even got to shake hands with the great man too… Lionsgate's Marie-Claire Benson said: "We were very impressed with how many people came to London from all over the country, on a Sunday, to be in the company of a Hollywood icon. The venue was packed, demonstrating that Arnold still has remarkable pulling power, which we fully expect to see when it comes to his box office draw in January." We'll have some pictures up on our website shortly…
Before The Last Stand, which is his first lead role in a film since his extended political sabbatical, Schwarzenegger eased his way back into acting with cameos in The Expendables and, more recently, The Expendables 2, in a lengthier turn. All of which leads us on neatly to the action sequel to end all action sequels, due from Lionsgate, with a just-confirmed release date of December 10. The sequel is bigger, bolder and brasher than the first, and Lionsgate's campaign for the sequel is going to be equally big. Lionsgate's Sarah Sanders said: "We're creating an all-guns-blazing campaign to herald the return of everybody's favourite action legends. Gifters and action fans alike won't be able to miss the fact that The Expendables are Back For War in this star-studded sequel. The support includes TV, online, outdoor, social media and press with some great looking POS for instore impact."
 To SPHE's office in the heart of London for a Sunday morning screening of current theatrical hit Hotel Transylvania, which has just opened at UK cinemas. Assorted guests, including us from The Raygun and our junior correspondents, were up bright and early for the event. The screening went down a storm and our young reviewers were impressed with the latest outing from Sony's animation arm. Expect this one to follow in the footsteps of its illustrious predecessors and it joins an increasingly vibrant family slate from the major, with recent notable releases such as The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists and the forthcoming seasonal biggie Arthur Christmas. The vampire-themed flick has already opened to storming numbers in the US, and it looks set to repeat the performance on this side of the Atlantic. And after the film itself, there was face painting and other suitably spooky activities and treats.
Meanwhile, little more than 24 hours later, The Raygun was back in Soho for an all together different affair involving SPHE. At the polar opposite from Hotel Transylvania, we were at a special event for Breaking Bad, its much loved and much talked about series that follows the life of a chemistry teacher turned would-be drug baron. The series has been one of the television success stories of the past year or so, its word of mouth is incredible and, thanks in no small part to the fact it's not currentlyon television. And as more and more people are being turned on to it, so consumers are turning to both the DVD releases and Netflix. Stars Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul were present at the event, at the Soho Gallery, which is hosting an exhibition of artwork inspired by the programme. The duo have been heavily promoting SPHE's DVD release and the Netflix availability (the streaming service will offer up the fifth series exclusively on November 1 ahead of its physical release), with interviews with the likes of Empire and Shortlist for print media, and BBC6 Music. The programme featured over the weekend as cover story in the Guardian Guide. And if anyone doubted the appeal of the programme, then they only needed to see the reaction to the pair's arrival at the event. Normally restrained journalists (and even retailers) turned into excitable teenagers, queuing to get their photos taken with the stars. We'll have more on this on our website soon… along with all our other regular features and a look at some recent in-store and launch activity.
 Cycling's been in and out of the news this year, with the sport enjoying a huge surge in popularity aided by British achievements in the Tour De France and latterly the Olympics, with the likes of Bradley Wiggins, Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton all becoming household names. The furore surrounding Lance Armstrong in recent weeks has shown not only the higher profile the sport now enjoys, but also how the drug-free aspect of the British athletes in this field has helped seal their reputation. And now one of the highlights of the 2012 cycling calendar, and that helped push cycling off on its freewheeling path to popularity this year, the Tour De France, is coming to DVD and Blu-ray. For Go Entertain has picked up the rights to this year's event. Its release, subtitled British Invasion, comes in three different SKUs, a standard two-disc DVD, a seven-disc version boasting a mammoth 13-hour running time and a four-disc Blu-ray with a similarly lengthy duration. The first two are due on October 29, the BD a week later on November 5, Go's Neil Harrington said: "After a spectacular summer of sport and the immense public following of Bradley Wiggins during the 2012 Tour De France, Go is pleased to add another great sporting title to its ever growing portfolio. We have high hopes it will be a great gift this Q4 for all cycling enthusiasts."
And Olympic fever continues… Last week we announced 4DVD was releasing a record of this year's Paralympics, the title joining BBC Worldwide's London 2012 Olympic Games DVD and Blu-ray release hitting stores on October 29 (the Paralympics Blu-ray arrives on November 5). We've already reported not just on BBC Worldwide's release, but many of the extras too, with a feature looking at putting the title together up on our website. Now BBC Worldwide has talked a bit more about the marketing campaign for its release, which, it says, is its most ambitious ever. Robert Lowe, marketing director at the consumer products division of the BBC's commercial arm, said: "The launch of the London 2012 Olympic Games DVD will be the biggest home entertainment event this year, with a marketing campaign to match. We have huge print, outdoor and TV activity running right now through until the end of the year. The advertising creative truly captures the emotion and drama of The London 2012 Olympics and will hopefully inspire everyone to want to relive the Games one more time. The advertising campaign kicked off in August continues throughout Q4 with massive bursts of TV, huge exposure within press and both digital and static Outdoor Media campaigns. Overall it is the most ambitious campaign BBC Worldwide has ever created, and will hopefully bring the launch of BBC Worldwide's The London 2012 Olympics DVD into as many households as possible this Q4."
 It's a busy weekend for Paramount, as its staff will be in action down at the mammoth Star Trek convention. Destination Star Trek London, due to take place at London's Excel centre from Friday October 21 through to Sunday. The major, the natural home for the adventures of the crew of the Enterprise and others, has taken a stand at the event and will be showing off its line-up of currently available titles, as well as previewing forthcoming releases. This will include its next Blu-ray release, the second series of Star Trek: The Next Genration, which arrives on high definition on December 10. Paramount has teamed up with Amazon, and punters can buy Trek-related releases from the online retailer using its app, with special discounts on offer. Paramount's sales director Paul O'Hare said: "Destination Star Trek London provides the perfect environment for fans to engage with one of Paramount Home Media's biggest franchises. We're also proud to work with Amazon.co.uk to showcase their Scan & Buy technology which provides shoppers with the ability to easily order product instantly. This initiative clearly demonstrates Paramount Home Media's ability to partner with our customers to provide tailored programs and opportunities for an expanded sales footprint."
More TV sci-fi now and the new series of Red Dwarf has returned to our screens and cult television fans have been out in force to support its return – it pulled in nearly 2 million viewers for its debut, an impressive feat for Dave, which helped fund the programme in return for showing it on the channel. BBC Worldwide will be releasing Red Dwarf X, as it's known, in November, and the company's Caroline Fleming said: "Red Dwarf has returned to TV screens with a bang with the first episode getting over 1.8 million viewers on Dave proving that the brand remains hugely popular. With so many re-makes of shows in recent years, it’s great that this show features the original cast, back in space. We will be executing an extensive PR and marketing campaign with an emphasis on sci-fi fans and online buzz.”
Remember the soap bubble video craze of the 1990s? It has continued into recent times, with the likes of Coronation Street and Emmerdale releasing DVD offshoots of their regular episodes. Anyone who remembers back to its inception will know that one of the key soaps behind the boom was Brookside, the now defunct, gritty Scouse opera. Well, we're proud to report that the programme is now making a return to the DVD, courtesy of 4DVD. The release will chart some of the legendary soap's most famous moments throughout its history and has been eagerly awaited, nay, demanded by fans. 4DVD's Jess Scott said: "Finally! After years of clamouring from fans, 4DVD are bringing out the fans ultimate collective: Brookside Most Memorable Moments, which includes the key moments through the years, including a siege, rape, the l*sbian kiss, murderous moments, religious cults, incest... And, with stars including, Sue Johnston, Ricky Tomlinson, Anna Frield, Ray Quinn, Amanda Burton and many more. The DVD's also packed with extras and shouldn't be missed. 4DVD have a very strong press and online marketing campaign planned, with some regional focus in and around Liverpool, as well as talent involvement on broadcast, to promote this fantastic DVD."
 We've already discussed the BBFC and the video nasty era, one of the directors whose earlier outings fell foul during those heady days was, of course, David Cronenberg, the man behind the ikes of Videodrome. The latest from the famed helmer, Cosmpolis, teams him with none other than Twilight hunk Rpattz, and is as varied as much of his recent output. The title is due from eOne on November 12 and the company's Jeff Suter said: " I’m really excited about the release of Cosmopolis – the film has a great pedigree behind it, with David Cronenberg as director and a superb performance from Robert Pattinson. The DVD is coming out during Q4 and we’ve got some great packaging that will help us stand out on shelf. This will be supported with TV, press, PR and social media campaigns to ensure we’re reaching all the Rpatz fans along with the David Cronenberg film fan audience. There will also be some launch day activity, more details to follow."
Sticking with eOne and another film that is likely to make a few year end Best Of polls, ours included, William Friedkin's Killer Joe, is being readied for release on November 5. It's a tough tale, following a trailer trash family and the cop, played superbly by Matthew McConaughey, who they become embroiled with. Commenting on the release, eOne's Stephanie Don said: "We're hugely excited about this release - the extraordinary cast including star Matthew McConaughey putting in a career-best performance and legendary director William Friedkin make this a landmark home entertainment release that we're backing with a heavyweight marketing and PR campaign." No word on whether they'll be a tie up with KFC yet...
 As our regular readers will know, we at The Raygun love a good survey, they're a great way of getting further coverage for titles, especially during the busy Q4 season when there are so many releases fighting for coverage. This week's entry comes from Fox, which is promoting the release of American Horror Story. The survey makes for an interesting and amusing read, telling us, as it does, what both British and American consumers are most scared of. Scariest celebrity in the UK was Celebrity Big Brother "star" Jackie Stallone, with Wayne Rooney at fourth. Marilyn Manson was the scariest for the Yanks. It also suggested that spiders is the top phobia in the UK, heights in the US. It was part of a campaign for the release that included a special screening for journalists and bloggers at Simon Drake's Magic House in south London…
And we'll end with a couple of moves and recent changes. Firstly, as we briefly mentioned the other week, former Paramount, Disney and MGM staffer Don Hunton is leaving the UK and heading to sunnier climes, Australia to be precise. He will become ceo of Regency Media Group, which is headquartered in Oz but has interests spanning the Asia Pacific region. It looks after manufacturing and distribution, with an increasingly important role to play in the digital sector, via its Cumulus platform.
And we'll end with fledgling PR operation Fetch, which is upping sticks and moving office verily as we type this newsletter. The company can nw be found at 31 Southampton Row, London, WC1B 5HJ. The phone number is 0203 585 1396.
 QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Initial signups exceeded our expectations; the Nordic people have definitely shown that they are ready for the future of television."
Netflix supremo Reed Hastings on his company's continued push for world domination, as it completed its rollout across Scandinavia…
AT THE MOVIES
Taken 2 held on to the number one box office slot, with just under £15 million in receipts. Highest new entry was Hotel Transylvania, with almost £1.75 million. Other new entries were Ruby Sparks and On The Road, each with more than £200,000.
Conspiracy theorists will be cheering the news that the various wild claims surrounding the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the US are to feature in a feature film. According to reports, September Morn will star the likes of Martin Sheen, Woody Harrelson and veteran campaigner and Lou Grant star Ed Asner will star in the film, due to be officially unveiled at AFM…
At a time when Lionsgate is gearing itself up for the release of the Keith Lemon film, it's interesting to see another TV star moving to the feature-length form, as news emerged that Miranda Hart is prepping a movie, which will appear after the next series of her eponymous sitcom. The "exclusive" story in The Sun even made reference to her DVD sales…
Get ready for another slice of knife-based action as sword-wielding Machete returns. Danny Trejo has signed to star in a sequel to the film, which was low on budget and high in earnings, in keeping with director Robert Rodriguez' grindhouse ethos. Due in 2013, Machete Kills will include guest appearances from the likes of Mel Gibson, Charlie Sheen and, it says here, Lady Gaga and Cuba Gooding Jr. We'll believe it when we see it…
TWEET OF THE WEEK
TRAILERS OF THE WEEK
Here’s the red band trailer for Ross Noble’s first outing, due from Kaleidoscope…
Second trailer for Tom Cruise's next outing
Jason Statham's back, and this time he's brought J-Lo with him
Here's a look at the trailer for the BBFC season at the Southbank…
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