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SHOWMAN STILL SHOWING
ARROW LAUNCHES SVOD SERVICE
QUENTIN LOVES IT, FANS TOO
BFI: ADMISSIONS FALL IN 2020…
…UK PRODUCTION SPEND DOWN TOO
BFI UNVEILS Q2 SLATE…
…AS BFI PLAYER ADDS EXCLUSIVES…
IN THE MOOD FOR WONG
SAM RAMS HOME THE MESSAGE
SIGNATURE'S POSSESSOR ARRIVES
NETWORK UNVEILS MARCH SLATE
A GLITCH IN TIME…
ORIGINAL SIN
I WANT MUSCLE
AT THE MOVIES
TWEET OF THE WEEK
TRAILERS OF THE WEEK
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It’s back. This week saw The Greatest Showman returning to the upper echelons of the Official Film Chart, further cementing its reputation the biggest home entertainment release of the century and a title that has dominated both the home ent and the music charts since its release. The title has been in the top 10 at least once every year since the Official Film Chart kicked off back in 2018 (the title came out in May 2018). And now it’s back at number two on this week’s listing, bested only by the latest Bill & Ted adventure, Face The Music, at number one. The Hugh Jackman starrer has now shifted a whopping 3.27 million units across disc and digital and its achievements don’t stop there – it’s spent the equivalent of more than two years on the Official Film Chart, with 108 non-consecutive weeks in the top 40 (there have only been 117 Official Film Chart updates since its inception, making The Greatest Showman a near-ever-present title. Its closest long-running contemporaries are A Star Is Born (82 weeks) and Bohemian Rhapsody (75 weeks).
After a successful launch in North America, the film experts at Arrow, a company that has made huge strides in the past decade, have launched a new subscription video on demand service in the UK. The subscription service pulls together the best of the label’s output across its Arrow Video Academy and TV imprints, with new, exclusive titles (A Ghost Waits is one of its first titles) alongside seasons celebrating directors and stars (February highlights include Lars Von Trier and Jodorowsky), new 4k restorations of classic titles (Demons 1 and 2 appear in February), catalogue films and TV titles (launch includes everything from Donnie Darko to Cinema Paradiso, Gomorrah to Crash and The Bridge to Oldboy) as well as extra content and features under a digital deluxe banner. Some titles will be licensed from other distributors. It costs £4.99 a month, or £49.99 a year, and launched on February 1 to acclaim. Commenting on the service, the company’s head of digital Daniel Perry said: “The launch of our own ARROW SVOD service is a significant milestone in the story of our company. Having launched already in the US/CA we are super excited to deliver our unique offering to the market. Customers will find a stunningly curated collection of films and TV series which will be enhanced by a scintillating focus on the stories behind the content, developing on the premium status that our brands in the physical market have become renowned for. We are championing old and new filmmakers alike and truly see the ARROW service as an alternative and enhanced streaming experience for the film fan.”
Given that Quentin Tarantino has singled out Arrow’s subscription video on demand service as the only one he’s signed up to – it’s around the 85 minute mark here – and the strong start to the week, we asked Arrow chief Alex Agran how the service was performing in its first ew days. He said: “In the few days since launch the response has been overwhelming, with subscriber numbers way ahead of forecast - it is on Social Media however where it has seriously blown up, including an endorsement from Quentin Tarantino in an EMPIRE podcast who said that the only subscription service he bought was for ARROW and describing the service as a ‘bunch of cool sh*t’. The team have pulled off a blinder with the launch of this platform and I’m massively excited to see what this is going to go on to achieve in 2021.”
The BFI has released its official statistics for the yer just gone – its annual state-of-the-nation address on the business, both in terms of admissions and production. In the case of the latter, the figures are blighted by the pandemic, with Covid-19 and assorted lockdowns meaning that admissions at UK cinemas were down to 44 million in 2020, a massive 75 per cent decrease on the previous year. In fact, for the previous three years, admissions had never fallen below 170 million. The crushing impact of Coronavirus is further highlighted by the fact that overall box office revenue for the year was £307 million, down 75 per cent from 2019’s £1.254 billion. The cruel irony is that pre-lockdown, January and February figures for 2020 were up 20 per cent year on year before the virus struck. Final quarter figures, when cinemas had reopened but were forced to close again, saw admissions down a massive 91 per cent from 2019’s total. There was slightly more heartening news from production, with spend on film and high-end TV production in the UK totalling £2.84 billion, a fall of 21 per cent. TV fared better than film – it was down a touch over 10 per cent in spending terms. But the final quarter saw a remarkable recovery, with the total spend of £1.19 billion the second highest three month figure ever.
Comment on the figures came from Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden who said: “These impressive figures show the resilience and creativity of the UK screen industries. We're getting our screen industries firing on all cylinders again with the Government's Film and TV Restart Scheme and £1.5bn Cultural Recovery Fund which has awarded £30 million in lifeline grants to independent cinemas. I am pleased that the Government's targeted interventions mean this sector is well placed for future strong growth and job creation.” Ben Roberts, BFI chief executive, said: "After an unbelievably tough year, today’s figures show an incredibly vibrant and positive picture for film and TV in the UK. Last spring it was hard to imagine that we would be generating £1 billion worth of production activity in the final quarter which has been achieved by industry and government pulling together and the determination of our workforce to get back up and running. This sector is primed to grow with expansion underway in studios and production hot spots across the UK, delivering more jobs and more to the economy. It’s been a challenging year for cinemas but we remain optimistic for the day when we can welcome back audiences and it’s brilliant to see some of the UK’s greatest talent making big pictures such as 1917 which topped the box office before the pandemic hit.” Adrian Wootton OBE, chief executive of the British Film Commission, said: “As today’s figures show, production recovery in the UK is well underway and demand for content is not only still there, but in fact greater than ever before. Our sector, like many, has faced unprecedented challenges, but thanks to the sheer talent of our workforce and the creative and technological innovation of our companies and infrastructure, we were swift in developing ways of continuing to produce outstanding content. Film and high-end TV have an important role to play in the UK’s economy, providing UK plc with billions of pounds into the nations and regions and supporting hundreds and thousands of jobs.”
Meanwhile, the BFI’s home entertainment arm has this week announced its slate for Q2, with an excellent line-up covering the entire gamut, taking in its Flipside imprint, new, contemporary British filmmaking, classic Brit fare, Blu-ray firsts for films from around the world, some big, big names, experimental film and a sequel to its hit from last year looking at classic BBC Play For Today titles. Commenting on the range, the BFI’s home entertainment chief John Ramchandani said: “Our Q2 slate brings a wide range of film and TV to your home to make this never-ending lockdown a little easier to bear. We have a mix of new nd recent restorations (I Start Counting, Radio On, Piccadilly,, Salaam Bombay!), contemporary films (County Lines - selected for the BAFTA longlists), Anniversary releases (Jungle Fever – 30th anniversary, Maeve – 40th anniversary) and of course the second instalment of our Play For Today Boxset collection. With this bounty in your collection we'll be out of lockdown before you know it!”
Sticking with the BFI, and with cinema admissions down, services such as the BFI layer have kept cineastes and film fans going throughout the pandemic and assorted lockdowns. And the service has added a new string to its bow to entice new customers to its subscription service. It is offering exclusive titles to subscribers that they can’t see elsewhere. Here’s the organisation’s head of live services Paul Lewis, outlining this and the current performance of the BFI’s video on demand service. He said; “While we continue to add fantastic new rental titles to BFI Player every week, we're very much focussing on the subscription service right now. Late last year we introduced Subscription Exclusives (not available on any other subscription package) - mainly recent contemporary films but also including La Haine – which give added value to subscribers and make the offer for potential customers even more enticing. This week, the BAFTA-longlisted and BIFA-nominated Mogul Mowgli, starring, co-written and co-produced by Riz Ahmed has become the latest SVOD addition, as an Exclusive, and we're expecting it to be a huge draw."
Meanwhile, the BFI Player continues to grow, and Monday February 8 sees it putting on the kind of season it would have in its flagship London cinema and other venues around the country pre-pandemic. It has joined forces with the ICA and its online offering, Cinema 3, to present a raft of films form Hong Kong auteur director Wong Kar Wai. The World of Wong Kar Wai season features seven films from the director, all 4K restorations, the majority overseen by the director himself. There will be a full season on offer when the cinemas reopen. The director himself said: “During the process of restoring many of the pictures that you are about to watch, we were caught in a dilemma between restoring them to the form in which the audience had remembered them and to how I had originally envisioned them. There was so much that we could change, and I decided to take the second path, as it would represent my most vivid vision of these films. After the premiere of Ashes of Time Redux in 2008, some audience members observed that the film looked different from what they had remembered. I realised that some of our audience had discovered it on pirated copies and in suboptimal[ck] exhibition venues that presented the film in a different light. Still, some preferred the versions that they had watched, because memories are hard to beat. As the saying goes: ‘No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.’ Since the beginning of this process, these words have reminded me to treat these restorations as an opportunity to present new works, from a different vantage point in my career. Having arrived at the end of this process, these words still hold true. I invite the audience to join me in starting afresh, as these are not the same films, and we are no longer the same audience.
Big release from Signature today on EST, as Sam Neill has been giving his full backing to Rams, helping raise its profile with a big PR push. Commenting on the PR campaign that means you couldn’t move for the popular actor this week, the company’s Emilie Barra said: “The feel-good comedy of the year RAMS was released today on EST. The lovely Sam has been a huge champion of the film and completed an incredible line-up of press for us as mentioned in previous updates. This includes a huge amount of prestigious TV appearances including the lead interview on prime-time chat show BBC Graham Norton last week and The One Show last night, with the brilliant Miranda, as well as BBC Radio 4’s Front Row. This will be followed by ITV’s This Morning (with Holly and Phil) on Monday. Sam’s interviews also went live this week with broad spreads in The Times, The Independent and the Daily Express and Miranda’s interview in and on The Guardian today. Still to come is Radio 5 Kermode, Radio X Chris Moyles and Heart Radio both on Monday. WE KEPT HIM BUSY! We're sure audiences will be flocking to their front rooms to see this uplifting and charming film!”
And on digital and physical formats on Monday is another Signature biggie, and one of the best horrors we’ve seen over the past 12 months, Brandon Cronenberg’s Possessor. Commenting on the title, Emilie Barra said: “One of the standout genre films of 2020 is finally out on DVD, Blu-Ray and digital! The Blu-Ray boasts over an hour of extras including behind-the scenes featurettes exploring the unique concept and visuals of the film as well as the tour-de-force performances from Andrea Riseborough, Christopher Abbott and Sean Bean. But my personal favourite is the look at the practical effect used in the film that continues the Cronenberg legacy. A must-watch for fans of genre films and beyond!”
Network has also been unveiling a raft of forthcoming titles, with this week’s announcement focusing on titles due out in March. And the independent has been digging through the vast Studiocanal library again to pull out some more little known gems from the heyday of British film for its excellent The British Film collection. Commenting on the titles, the company’s Oteri Otobor said: “We have a range of titles from hidden gems to BAFTA winners coming to The British Film collection this March, including: Suspect: a tense Cold War thriller starring Peter Cushing; Sing as We Go!: a feel-good musical starring Gracie Fields; Where No Vultures Fly: African family drama from Ealing Studios; Agatha Christie adaptation Ten Little Indians; BAFTA-nominated comedy A Run for your Money, The Lady is a Square: a swinging musical starring Anna Neagle; The Weapon: a rarely seen British Noir, and finally, the final entry in Michael Powell’s cycle of ballet films Honeymoon. These are film treasures spanning over four decades of British filmmaking with many available on Blu-ray for the first time.”
Fresh from its World Premiere at this year's Sundance Film Festival, Friday saw the PVOD/EST release of A Glitch in the Matrix, the latest mind-bending documentary from Rodney Ascher (Room 237, The Nightmare). Distributed by doc specialists Dogwoof, the film takes a deep dive into simulation theory with colourful interviews with those who believe their life is a construct of some unknowable entity. With a DVD & Blu-ray release planned for May, here's Dogwoof's head of home entertainment Daniel Green on the film and the company's other Sundance activity: "With cinemas still closed across the UK and Ireland we made the bold decision to bring Rodney Ascher's latest from Sundance straight to people's homes less than a week on from its world premiere. In addition, we are busy working on a deluxe DVD/Blu-ray package for May with new artwork and a host of soon-to-be-announced extras. In terms of other Sundance business, we're looking forward to bringing our latest UK acquisition, Kristina Lindström, Kristian Petri's The Most Beautiful Boy in the World, to audiences in the not-too-distant future.
We promised more from 4Digital Media recently and this week the distributor has announced a new homegrown horror due on March 8. The Curse Of Hobbes House was shot in Bristol at the rather swish surroundings of mansion Kings Weston House. Directed by Julianne Block and penned by her and collaborator Wolf-Peter Arand, the film is a zombie flick that sees two warring sisters battling over their slice of an inheritance having to put their financial differences aside to fight off a horde of the undead. Commenting on the film, Block and Arand said: "We’re very excited about The Curse of Hobbes House being released in the UK. It's where the film was shot and where key members of our team are based, so the film's UK release feels a bit like a homecoming. Although a Zombie movie the film encapsulates thoughts and feelings people can relate to, especially right now. In times like these we have to realise we’re at our best whenever we overcome our differences and work together.”
This week’s most-talked about – and one of its highest rated – TV shows is the new series from one of the UK’s best writers in the medium, Russell T Davies and his new outing It’s A Sin. The programme airs on Channel 4 Friday nights, with all episodes available via the channel’s All 4 on demand service. It arrived with a welter of publicity and the show earned both critical acclaim, with a raft of reviews and acres of publicity, and this tale of gay life and the devastation caused to the community by the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, focusing on one group of disparate friends. It wowed audiences, becoming Channel 4’s biggest launch for a year, with catch-up and on demand figures to boost. Reports have said it was the station’s biggest ever drama launch on All 4 and led to record viewing figures on the service over the first weekend. This week has seen Dazzler Media confirming the eagerly awaited home entertainment launch, with the full series arriving on February 22 on Blu-ray and DVD. Commenting on its launch, Dazzler’s Paul Holland said: ”It's A Sin has been nothing short of a TV drama phenomenon. The media coverage for the series has been exceptional not only reflecting on the brilliance of Russell T Davies’ script, the young acting talent aided by the likes of Keeley Hawes and Stephen Fry, but also the historical significance. No spoilers but this is a must watch series, that will fill you with joy of youth and the sadness as the realisation that AIDS was killing people. The interest has been phenomenal and based on what we've seen so far we are anticipating this to be one of our biggest and best releases of 2021.”
Meanwhile, Monday February 1 saw what was pretty much our favourite film of 2020, Gerard Johnson’s Muscle. A grim tale of body building and masculinity from Gerard Johnson, who, after this, Hyena and Tony a few years ago on his filmography, is a specialist in twisting conventions in British film. Muscle features Craig Fairbrass in what is his finest role ever, as a controlling, pumped up personal trainer. As we noted here a few months ago, the film’s at home (and brief theatrical) release was hugely well received and earned the kind of acclaim Fairbrass films don’t often achieve, especially from the quality press. The Raygun’s Tim Murray interview Johnson for the Home Viewing column for The Ransom Note, follow on Twitter for when the feature goes live. In the meantime, Dazzler’s Paul Holland said: “Muscle became one of the most talked about new British films at the end of 2020, with Gerard Johnson's bold and provocative filmmaking, and excellent performances - including Craig Fairbrass in his best role to date. Despite the challenges of lockdown, we were pleased to bring the film to cinemas while ensuring it was widely available On Demand, and supported by a targeted press campaign. With a great audience response and excellent reviews, it was released on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital and entered the DVD top 10 charts on day one. We anticipate this being a continued success as a new, must-see Home Entertainment title.”"
AT THE MOVIES
Awards season is on the way, for what it’s worth, with a few major announcements this week unveiling some of the front-runners for the 2021 ceremonies. BAFTA released its long list of titles in the running for key awards. Its Outstanding British Film selection included not one but two titles due from the BFI on home entertainment formats – Mogul Mowgli and County Lines. It also, many experts suggested, represented encouraging signs of BAFTA’s move to make the awards more diverse. BAFTA Film Committee Chair Marc Samuelson said: “The longlists announced today reflect some of the key changes we’ve already begun to implement as part of our ongoing Review. A big thank you goes to our membership for embracing these changes so positively and quickly especially during this challenging time. BAFTA View is already helping level the playing field for all entrants this year and we’re really pleased that over 120,000 streams have taken place. I hope today’s longlists shows you that we remain committed to change in all aspects of the BAFTA’s awards on an ongoing basis.” You can see the long list here…
Looking increasingly anachronistic, however, according to those in the know, is the Golden Globes ceremony, with the shortlist announced this week. Mank and The Trial Of The Chicago 7 lead the way, and whole some signifiers were there, nominations for James Corden in The Prom but no Delroy Lindo for Da 5 Bloods, which came away empty-handed, were a sign there’s still some way to go… You can see the full list here…
The pace at which Hollywood and film studios move in on real-life events to work up film ideas has certainly increased in recent years, further proof was offered this week too. For that whole GameStop business, where Reddit users took on Wall Street in a fight over shares in the US games retailer, is already being talked about in feature film terms. And even though it’s little more than a week old as a major mews story, there are not one but two projects in development. One is from MGM, the other Netflix…
TWEET OF THE WEEK
Follow us on www.twitter.com/theraygun…
TRAILERS OF THE WEEK
Apple snags up Billie
Directed by Amy Poehler and due on Netflix…
It’s a dog’s life part 1…
https://youtu.be/Wcmqp8OL6kE It’s a dog’s life part two…
Japan's Chernobyl…
https://youtu.be/l6fmj_1WqbE Here’s the Arrow trailer for its svod service… https://youtu.be/lLSIlV0Q0Z0 THE OBLIGATORY GDPR BIT
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