THE RAYGUN NEWSLETTER :: DECEMBER 2 2011

HARRY, HERE'S HERE TO HELP…

HALLOWS BE THY NAME: RETAILERS WELCOME RELEASE

CHATTERIFIC: SARAH SELLS

EDGING AHEAD

OUR SURVEY SAYS…

ICON EXITS DISTRIBUTION…

…BUT DRIVE STILL MOTORS AHEAD

HUNTING DOWN SUCCESS

REVOLVER AMONG THE ELITE

ABBEY CHRISTMAS

HOLDING THE TORCH

CLARKSON BROUHAHA FOLLOWS DVD PR TOUR

PECCADILLO HORSES AROUND

LOVEFILM BACKS BIFAS

HOOD GETS SOCIAL GONGS

FACT HELPS SEIZE PIRATE HAUL

HMV MOVES…

BVA SETS THE DATE

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

EVENTS OF THE WEEK

AT THE MOVIES

SITE OF THE WEEK – PARAMOUNT'S 1OOTH

TWEET OF THE WEEK

TRAILERS OF THE WEEK

It Was A Good Week For… 4DVD, with both Sarah Millican and Micky Flanagan performing well…

It Was A Bad Week For… Icon staffers, fingers crossed it all works out for them… And apologies for the late arrival of this edition of The Raygun, this was due to technical problems beyond our control and that corroded hard drive

So, this is the week it's all started… Last weekend and the bright start to the week were further buoyed as Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 arrived in shops on Friday morning. Many, including around 150 HMV stores, opened early for Warner's release of the years biggest theatrical earner, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2, while many late opening and 24 hour supermarkets started selling the title at midnight. Initial quantities at HMV came with a lenticular poster, while Gryffindor scarves were also given away, some customers had started queuing at 5am to secure their copy. Records had already started tumbling ahead of release, as amazon.co.uk confirmed that the title had become its most pre-ordered film and TV product ever, outstripping Universal's Mamma Mia, the Harry Potter films are also the retailer's bestselling film series ever, ahead of The Lord Of The Rings. The online retailer's head of music, film and TV John Boumphrey said: "The final instalment of the Harry Potter film series was always going to be a top seller and pre-orders for Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 are now more than double those achieved by Part 1. When pre-orders for the final instalment began in September it quickly became the fastest selling Film & TV product of all-time with first day pre-orders overtaking those achieved by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 in just five hours." Looking forward to continued good sales, Warner's John Stanley said: "Pre-orders to date have beaten all our expectations and look set to make Deathly Hallows Part 2 the single biggest selling Harry Potter home entertainment release of all time. The release of this final Harry Potter instalment on DVD, Blu-ray and Digital platforms rounds off another record breaking year and with Warner Bros. Studio Tour London The Making of Harry Potter opening in the UK next spring, this incredible franchise looks set to continue exciting audiences for many years to come."

Sales of Deathly Hallows Part 2 had already got off to a bright start at a Thursday evening signing at Harrods. The most in-demand item is Harrods' exclusive Elder Wand set, of which there were only 300 copies. The limited nature of the box had already drawn plenty of coverage, this Evening Standard feature being among them. Retailers were all expecting Harry to do the business and, ahead of release, they were all looking forward to its arrival. Asda's head of DVD Leah Watson said: "The Harry Potter films continue to be one of most popular movie series ever for Asda. With this film being the final instalment our stores are preparing for midnight openings and a specially created platform 9 themed checkout for Harry Potter film fans. Shoppers can also visit our exclusive Diagon Alley aisles in-store and purchase a wide range of Harry Potter goodies including dress up, toys, books and of course DVDs so they can complete their Harry Potter collection." HMV's Rudy Osorio said: "The release of any Harry Potter title is always a key event in our year, but we wanted to mark this final instalment in a special way and we've had a great response to the breakfast openings. It looks like it's shaping up to be a Harry Potter Christmas." Sainsbury's head of entertainment Richard Crampton said: "Our customers love Harry Potter and this final release looks set to be the biggest and best yet. Demand for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 has exceeded expectations and our colleagues will be working around the clock to meet demand following the title's release on Friday." Tesco's category director for home entertainment and media Rob Salter said: "Harry Potter is always hugely popular with Tesco customers and we¹re expecting the last instalment and the Harry Potter: Years 1-8 Box Set to be big sellers this Christmas. Our store staff will be working hard from the launch at midnight and through the early hours on December 2 to ensure that customers can get their copies as soon as possible. We're expecting a high level of people coming into store eager to experience a bit of Harry Potter magic this Christmas."

Speaking of Tesco, the release of Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 has been used to launch its "revolutionary" new offering with blinkbox. Any Tesco Clubcard holder who buys either Deathly Hallows or any one of 25 other films online or in stores, will also get an digital copy via blinkbox. All they need to do is link their Clubcard to a blinkbox account and the title will automatically appear in their library. This means they can then watch the film through their PC, Mac, PS3, connected TVs and, soon, the iPad and Xbox 360. Other titles included in the scheme are The Hangover Part 2, due next week, The Smurfs, the very relevant Jeremy Clarkson: Powered Up, Top Gear At The Movies, John Bishop's latest and Conan The Barbarian. Tesco UK ceo Richard Brasher said: "Customers know that Tesco is a great retailer for new technology. This innovation with blinkbox will help start a digital revolution, combining the physical DVD with the digital for the first time. Starting with the magic of Harry Potter, there will be many more great titles to follow for customers to enjoy online wherever and whenever they like.” blinkbox ceo Michael Comish said: “To be able to bring this truly ground breaking service to consumers is very exciting for blinkbox. Our customers already know that we are the number one choice for the latest new movie titles the day they released on DVD, so working with Tesco to give them access to both a physical and a digital version allows them choice and the best of both worlds.” It's the first real move to bring Tesco and blinkbox since the grocer's acquisition of the digital company earlier this year; for more see here. Also from blinkbox: we liked the company's online rental Daily Advent calendar, offering a film a day for just 99 pence. Today's selection is The Dark Knight…

So Harry's sales are assured, but there's been other cause for celebration over the past week. Transformers: Dark Of The Moon had started brightly, and both 4DVD and eOne were celebrating this week too. 4DVD sold some 30,000 copies of Sarah Millican's Chatterbox Live release, setting it up nicely to pass the 100,000 mark before Christmas; a feat that would make it the bestselling release from a female comic for more than a decade. That total would take her past the recent achievements of the likes of Victoria Wood, Pam Ayres and French And Saunders. The sales have been propelled by plenty of chat and panel show appearances and, as we have noted on our website in our regular weekly round-up of press activity, some strong PR. 4DVD's Jessica Scott said: "We are delighted with Sarah's sales to date. It is particularly refreshing to see a female comedian do so well in such a male-dominated environment. We're confident of Sarah breaking this 10 year old record, by selling well over 100,000 copies as we expect the DVD to be under quite a lot of Christmas trees this year." It has further set out 4DVD's stall for the year: the company is also enjoying strong sales for another comedy debutant, Micky Flanagan. His sales of almost 70,000 (and counting) make him this year's bestselling debut stand-up release and also sets the seal on his remarkable overnight success story (one that's taken some 14 years to realise). 4DVD's Clare Bosak said: "We are thrilled that Micky Flanagan's debut DVD has sold so well during these first couple of weeks, especially in such a crowded market Micky¹s DVD was released on the same day as 14 other stand-up titles. We hope to see this success continue as we get nearer to Christmas.” His manager Christian Knowles added: "From the 14 year old chicken children right through to the generation that grew up watching On The Buses, Micky¹s fantastic sense of humour has clearly and deservedly caught the public’s imagination.” There's still one more biggie due from 4DVD before Christmas too, the small matter of The Inbetweeners Movie, due on December 12.

Also selling well: TT: Closer To The Edge, from CinemaNX via its new relationship with eOne. The title shifted more than 34,000 in its first two days, setting it up nicely for a strong weekend. The title, the third highest grossing British documentary ever, is also selling strongly in non-traditional outlets. CinemaNX chairman Steve Christian said: "We are absolutely thrilled with the DVD and Blu-ray success of TT3D: Closer To The Edge which follows an impressive theatrical run and confirms its status as one of the biggest British documentary successes in recent history. It‘s a fantastic start to an ongoing relationship with Entertainment One." eOne's Jon Bourdillon said: "We are truly delighted by the consumer interest in this great film across DVD and iTunes this week. Sales have been far in excess of all our forecasts and the film will be one the best selling documentaries of all time." The title was launched in an innovative style at the legendary Ace Café in north London, for more see our website www.theraygun.co.uk

All these impressive sales come as the BVA issued an interesting statement ushering in the biggest fortnight of the year for DVD and Blu-ray sales. The organisation had commissioned a survey stating that nearly 90 per cent of consumers believe that they make a great Christmas present, although many were waiting until this week to start buying their presents. The survey also said that Boxing Day is the most popular day for watching Christmas discs. As the BVA went on to point out, and as many of our readers should know, December accounts for more than 20 per cent of all physical sales, and almost a third of all live comedy sales. BVA director general Lavinia Carey said: "2011 has been a tough year for all UK retailers and video entertainment is not immune but music video, TV, children’s and other genres over-index in December and there are encouraging signs that this year ‘s pre-Christmas releases will do better than last, even if it does start a few weeks later than usual. For example, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 has recorded bigger pre-sales than any previous Harry Potter release, as well as being No 2 on Amazon.co.uk users' wish lists, after the Kindle, and has out-performed its forecasts in other countries. With Blu-ray hardware sales increasing by 19 per cent since this time last year, and in the last three months more people are buying 3D Blu-ray players than standard Blu-ray, this should help drive Blu-ray Disc sales to build on the 16.6 per cent increase already seen so far in 2011. In the run up to Christmas many people will be looking for great quality and value during the gifting season."

Interestingly, the statement contained the nugget that digital transactions had grown 20 per cent year on year, according to figures from HIS Screen Digest. As Lavinia Carey noted: "Interest in digital video services is growing, as demonstrated by the 20 per cent year-on-year increase in the value of digital transactions, announced today by the British Video Association, giving this format a 15 per cent share of the overall video market worth £206.3 million to the end of Q3, versus £1.14 billion value of the physical retail and rental sectors. However, the BVA points out that physical discs are by far the most popular way to watch video entertainment, with over 127 million physical purchases so far this year. For Christmas shoppers looking to suit the whole family, many big titles are released as Triple-Play, which contains a high-definition Blu-ray disc, standard definition DVD and a digital copy for portable devices all in one pack."

Another interesting survey lands in inbox, which reveals that watching a film is the favourite way for families to spend Christmas together, with 93 per cent of respondents plumping for it, ahead of eating (90 per cent) and drinking (76 per cent). Family films, especially holiday-themed ones, were the favourites for parents and children, with Universal's It's A Wonderful Life is among the most popular. The survey, carried out to mark the 65th anniversary edition of Frank Capra's DVD and Blu-ray being released by the major, also suggested that Blu-rays and DVDs were the most popular presents, with 86 per cent saying they were a "great gift" with 73 per cent saying they were likely to buy a Blu-ray or DVD for friends or family this Christmas. The research has been released to national newspapers and magazines by Universal and its agency Cohn & Wolf.

So that's for the good news, but the bad news this week centres on one of The Raygun's favourite companies, Icon. It has this week confirmed what has long been suspected, that it is exiting from the distribution side of its business, preferring to concentrate on its international sales and production sides. Theatrical titles due for release next year will now be going through Lionsgate. Icon and its sales and marketing teams will continue to look after its impressive December and January slate of DVD and Blu-ray releases (see below). No decision has yet been made on the future of the company's impressive catalogue, It must be stressed that this isn't a reflection on Icon's distribution, especially its successful home entertainment offering, more a shift in its priorities. It's unclear what the job scenario is, some staff are expected to lose their jobs although some will be retained for the new-look operation. We're sure that our readers will join us in wishing their popular home entertainment team, all the very best going forward, and we hope things work out for them.

In the meantime, the company still has some exciting releases in the pipeline, its last batch of releases in its current incarnation will be among some of the most exciting in its history… December 26 sees The Devil's Double arriving, while arguably the coolest film of the year, Drive, is due on January 30. It's certainly going to appear there or thereabouts on many end of year, best of 2011 polls (ours too). We'll have more on its marketing next week, but let's look at its potential. As the company's Chris Warrington said: "Drive is one of those rare movies blessed with an alchemy that ensures everything falls magically into place. The affect that it has on audiences is extraordinary. Its appeal and, in some cases, near obsessive levels of devotion continues to build and the home entertainment release will consolidate its status as a timeless classic."

Vying with Drive for the title of coolest film of the year, certainly among the cognoscenti, is Troll Hunter. The title is one of the most unlikely of the year, it's a hugely effective horror film from Norway that looks at, you guessed it, trolls. After a hugely successful theatrical run, Momentum is now readying the title for a January 9 release. As the company's Adam Eldrett said: "When I first saw it over a year ago now I think I was pretty hooked, but for me it was at Edinburgh when I saw the larger potential. It seemed to sneak into several festivals in the run-up to theatrical release and always emerged as the favourite movie. It's been a joy to watch people take Troll Hunter into their hearts, what started as a well reviewed culty Norwegian arthouse film became quite a mainstream hit, I'm calling it Cultstream. People sought the film out in the 80 sites we were in and word of mouth has been strong, exit polls showing over 80 per cent would reccommend to a friend." Eldrett continued: "We also had a quote in this past week [with Jonathan Ross saying) 'Troll Hunter is magnificent'. It is those endorsements that are showing me we are doing the right things with Troll Hunter. This will be a campaign to remind our core cult audience about the release and also go after a wider audience. With further quotes comparing it to Jurassic Park we think it won't go unnoticed this Q1." Meanwhile, those fans that took it to their heart are already anticipating the release. More on the marketing for this next week…

And while we're on cool films from all over the world, it's worth mentioning another of our favourites of 2011, Elite Squad: The Enemy Within. Like us, Revolver's Jon Sadler is also a fan of the film, which looks at corruption in the Brazilian police force and is due from the company on December 26. He said: "It’s one of those films that come around once in a while that you are particularly pleased to be working on because you're personally a fan of the film we will be supporting the release with a heavy-weight pre-roll campaign across targeted online sites supported by full page ads in film and entertainment lifestyle magus plus we have gone to town on the packaging, which really looks stunning. The film is about to get its US release too, so we expect the general awareness of the film to be raised around the time of our release, especially as it is totally critic-proof. "

Also at Revolver, and the company, which always performs well at assorted awards evenings, was this week celebrating after picking up two gongs, the Grand Prix and Best Integrated Campaign at the Social Buzz awards for its social media campaign for its hit Anuvahood. The independent fought off competition from the likes of Disney, Sony, Heineken and Nokia to pick up the award for what judges said was its "highly creative" campaign. The company's Justin Marciano said: "We are thrilled to have our hard work recognized at such a high level. Our team worked tirelessly on both the conception and execution of the campaign and therefore it ‘s wonderful when these efforts pay off, both critically and commercially."  

Boxing Day is, as we've already noted, one of the favourite days to watch DVDs, and has long been a date targeted for key releases, both in terms of fitness and blokier films. This year, however, there's another significant title being released on that day. Christmas At Downton Abbey, due from Universal Playback, is just that, a Christmas special from the hugely popular historical drama phenomenon. It comes on the back of another hugely successful year for the franchise. "The Downton Abbey Series 2 DVD has been a great success with week one sales up 31 per cent on Series 1 and in the run up to Christmas we ‘re pleased say that we ‘re set to over perform on our in year target," said Playback's Sophia Nelson. "The Crawleys will be back for more splendour, romance and scandal, as everyone‘s favourite aristocratic family returns in our Christmas at Downton DVD release, due out Boxing Day, following the transmission on ITV on Christmas Day. We ‘re optimistic that this will be an equal success to our series 2 DVD with full retail support and continued marketing activity over the festive season. Essentially we ‘re aiming to make Britain Abbey."  

It's been a busy week for 2 entertain. After last week's Doctor Who and Rev activity (see our website for more on those two), the company has this week seen another signing for the Doctor's grown-up sister programme Torchwood. Stars John Barrowman and Eva Myles were in HMV's flagship Oxford Circus store signing copies of the latest release, Miracle Day getting through 300 autographs for diehard fans of the sci-fi series.

There was also a full day's worth of publicity from Jeremy Clarkson, supporting his latest release from 2 entertain, Powered Up, in case you hadn't noticed. The Top Gear presenter was on BBC's The One Show this week, his comments on Wednesday's strikes were deemed as being hugely controversial, and earned him plenty of coverage in newspapers and elsewhere. Irrespective of what he might have said, it appears as if a fair amount of the coverage about the striking public workers mentioned the current release… The rest of the activity also included an appearance on the Chris Moyles show on Radio 1, further radio throughout the day and his final appearance on The One Show. The furore added to 2 entertain's press coverage for the week, which included an excellent spread on Frozen Planet in The Times…

An interesting night out this Sunday (December 4), as Peccadillo launches its acclaimed documentary We Were Here, due out the next day, with a special screening at one of The Raygun's favourite nights out, Horse Meat Disco (and we've seen one or two other industry types at the mixed night too) at The Eagle in Vauxhall. The screening will be followed by the normal wild goings-on at the wonderfully named Horse Meat Disco. Peccadillo's Simon Savory said: "When Eagle London approached Peccadillo wanting to collaborate on a DVD launch party and screening of the much talked about documentary film We Were Here alongside seminal club night Horse Meat Disco, we were thrilled and agreed to take part straight away. What with a relevant San Francisco styled interior and 70 ‘s music at Eagle in Vauxhall, it is sure to be a great night out and a hot ticket. We couldn‘t think of a better way to launch the film ‘s DVD release. Charity donations will be collected for the charity GMFA (Gay Men Fighting AIDS). We are already collaborating with Eagle and Horse Meat Disco on future screenings and parties watch out 2012." For those that don't know, The Eagle is, of course, owned by former video industry stalwart Mark Oakley, the man who helped launch Blockbuster in the UK more than 20 years ago before running the video arm of Virgin Megastores… See you down the front.

If you can't make it to Horse Meat Disco on Sunday and are tucked up indoors, you could do worse than go to LOVEFiLM's site to have a look at the British Independent Film Awards. The streaming and rental by post operator has iunked a deal that will see it broadcasting live exclusively from the event. LOVEFiLM ceo Simon Calver said: " We are very proud to have been chosen by BIFA to stream the awards live into the living rooms of film fans over more traditional approaches.  We are always looking for new ways to bring the world of film to those who are passionate about it, and working with the BIFA team is a fantastic way of achieving this. LOVEFiLM will be the place to be this Sunday for film fans as some of Hollywood's brightest take to the stage to accept their awards."  

Some interesting anti-piracy news now and FACT was one of the parties involved in a crackdown on organised crime that saw six market traders arrested in dawn raids across Manchester. "Vast quantities" of counterfeit DVDs were among the haul seized, including not-yet-released titles such as Puss In Boots. FACT director general Kieron Sharp said: "FACT and the BPI have been working for some time to gather detailed intelligence on the major organised criminal elements controlling the sale of counterfeit film, TV and music discs on markets across Greater Manchester. Traders in counterfeit goods are harming the livelihoods of legitimate traders and businesses and impacting on livelihoods of the hard working people who work in the UK ‘s creative industries. This operation proves the effectiveness of a multi-agency approach to tackling serious criminality, coordinated by Greater Manchester Police who have shown exemplary leadership."

Anyone due to visit HMV's DVD team at its head office take note: the company has moved from its Wardour Street location to its other premises in Eastcastle Street. The full address is Princess House, 50-60 Eastcastle Street, London W1W 8EA.

And we'll end with a diary date for 2012, as the BVA this week confirmed that next year's awards will return to the venue of choice in recent years, Old Billingsgate, on Thursday April 26 for the 2012 event. The bash will have a Best Of British theme, and, as BVA director general Lavinia Carey said: " With the Queen ‘s Diamond Jubilee, the Olympic Games and the Paralympics all taking place in 2012, this is a great year to celebrate our brilliant British video industry."

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Unfortunately, there are some critics of this legislation who are not serious about helping to protect America’s intellectual property. That’s because they’ve made large profits by working with and promoting rogue sites to U.S. consumers. Google recently paid half a billion dollars to settle a criminal case because of the search-engine giant’s active promotion of rogue foreign pharmacies that sold counterfeit and illegal drugs to U.S. patients. Their opposition to this legislation is self-serving since they profit from doing business with rogue sites." US congressman Lamar Smith hits back at Google, which is objecting to new US anti-piracy legislation.
 
EVENT OF THE WEEK

So, happy birthday then, to PR agency DnA, which celebrated its 10th (yup, 10th, which makes us feel if not very old then even older) in style last night at Two Floors in London's Soho. Assorted hacks and journalist, The Raygun included, industry faces and figures and some of its client roster were all in attendance. Many happy returns…

AT THE MOVIES

The latest in the ongoing Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn Part 1, scored another big weekend at number one, with a total of £23.31 million over its first two weekends, making it the seventh biggest film of the year at UK cinemas, replacing Bridesmaids. Arthur Christmas has now taken more than £8 million, although this week Martin Scorsese's Hugo and Happy Feet Two enter the family fray. In a busy week for new entries, My Week With Marilyn (£749,819), 50/50 (£410m251), Dream House (£304,239), Bollywood flick Desi Boyz (£243,792) and Moneyball (£230,848) took up half the top 10.

Harry Potter was out this week (see above, in case you hadn't noticed) and producer David Heyman is this week said to be working on another project at Warner. Unholy Night is an action adventure tale that follows the exploits of the Three Wise Men. Yes, those three, the ones in the nativity.

Another week, another Steven Soderbergh film. The prolific director's next project is likely to be Bitter Pill, which, as Deadline.com noted, is a thriller in the Basic Instinct mould…

One project we can't wait to see, and should be required viewing for anyone in our industry, is Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story Of Cannon Films, which follows the seminal studio that was instrumental in the growth of the video industry in its early days. It is due later in 2012, we're in the queue already…

SITE OF THE WEEK

Paramount is celebrating its 100th birthday in 2012 and to mark the event it is undertaking a whole raft of activity. We'll have more on this next week, but in the meantime, head over to its excellent Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ParamountFilmClub As marketing director Lesley Henry said: "We at Paramount are very excited to be celebrating our 100th birthday next year. We are all tremendously proud of the amazing films we have in our vaults, the many great films you already know but also some wonderful classics you may not know. And what better way to celebrate than introducing a whole new generation to some of Hollywood ‘s finest films? The Paramount Film Club will include the best in classic images, unseen collateral, trivia and some of next year ‘s most incredible competitions premiere tickets, one-of-a-kind-merchandise and amazing experiences will all be given away. Facebook is the ideal medium for us to connect with the most passionate and knowledgeable film fans. We hope all film lovers will want to get involved and be a part of our celebrations. We want everyone to be really engaged with the programme and to share in the magic of Hollywood. It is something very special indeed to be a part of."

TWEET OF THE WEEK

And while we're on it, why not follow Paramount's 100th anniversary activity on www.twitter.com/Paramount100 You can follow us on www.twitter.com/theraygun

TRAILERS OF THE WEEK

We're beyond excited about this, as Morrissey heralds the return of This Is England… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZIQNyYfl9w&sns=fb

An intriguing one this, from indie Guerilla Films, it's a British comedy, told entirely in rhyming couplets: http://actsofgodfrey.com/

Eddie Murphy reprises the crossing the busy road sequence from Bowfinger… http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/paramount/athousandwords/

And the award for most talked about by Internet geeks trailer of the week goes to…

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/disney/johncarter/

And with that, we're off to listen to Kashmir…

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