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APES STILL RULING
PANTS IN THE POST
ARROW’S NEW CHANNEL
MUBI INKS UNIVERSAL DEAL
NOLAN TALKS DUNKIRK… AND VHS
PUTTNAM: HOME CINEMA BETTER THAN EVER
VDC THROWS XMAS BASH…
…AND CELEBRATES NEW ADDITIONS
ON THE ASCENDANT
HITMAN ON TARGET
THRONES BACK IN THE CHAIR
SIGNATURE UNVEILS Q1…
…PRECISION TOO
EUREKA REVEALS SPRING SLATE…
…AND ADDS TO MONTAGE LABEL
FACT RAIDS TARGET ILLEGAL DEVICES
AT THE MOVIES
TWEET OF THE WEEK
TRAILERS OF THE WEEK
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It Was A Good Week For... Apes still leading the charge…
It Was A Bad Week For… Illegal set-top box dealers readied…
We’ll start with a round up of what’s been selling over the past week and, at the halfway point, it was war all over again as, for the second week running, Fox’s War For The Planet Of The Apes was set to take the top slot, edging ahead of SPHE’s Spider-Man Homecoming, with just a handful of unit sales between the two at the halfway point in the week according to the Official Charts Company. Highest new entry was Atomic Blonde, a title featured here last week, which got off to an impressive start, in at number three. Other new entries, as well as the excellent Captain Underpants (see below), there were appearances for Girls Trip (15), BBC Worldwide’s revived Doctor Who outing Shada (16), the new 4K Terminator 2 (22), the revived Twin Peaks (25), Annabelle Creation at 28 and Jojo Siwa My World (33).
It’s a one and six for Fox in the midweek charts, according to the latest bulletin from the Official Charts Company. For it looks as if the final part of the Apes trilogy, War For The Planet Of The Apes was going to hold on to the top slot for the second week running after its barnstorming week one performance. And, at opposite ends of the spectrum, there’s one of our junior correspondents’ favourite animated films of the year, Captain Underpants. The former was aided by marketing which included, as noted here earlier, a giant ice sculpture n Covent Garden, while, for the latter, Fox hit upon a wizard wheeze to promote the release. For it made up some special seasonal Captain Underpants pants to send to media (including us at the Raygun). You can see the results here. and it picked up more than a quarter of a million views across assorted social media accounts from the likes of our pals at KidzCoolIt Movies 4 Kids, Toxic Magazine, Kick! Magazine, Mega Magazine,, Animals and You, Kraze Club Magazine, Yahoo! Movies, HeyUGuys, Fun Kids, Inside The Wendy House, Mad House of Cats and Babies and on Kennedy Publishing. TCFHE head of publicity and promotions Liz Silverstone said: “Christmas jumpers were so 2016! This year it’s all about the Christmas Underpants! Thanks to Premier PR for an epic campaign and helping to give this fun family film a festive feel.”
Arrow has always been a forward thinking company and this week it has embarked on another new foray this week, unveiling a new svod channel under the Arrow TV banner. Available to Amazon Prime members through the service’s channel offering, at a cost of £4.99, its launch offering includes Gomorrah, alongside the likes of The Killing and The Bridge, with more being added regularly, with new shows du in 2018 too. Daniel Perry, head of digital strategy at Arrow Films said: “We at Arrow Films are all incredibly excited to launch Arrow TV on Amazon Channels this December. With our experience in bringing some of the best TV around the world to the UK and our focus on innovation and customer choice, we feel Arrow TV is the perfect service for audiences looking for great TV, curated by real people.”
Big news from Mubi, with the curated video on demand service unveiling a deal inked with NBC Universal. In keeping with its ethos, the major, multi-year svod deal sees Mubi handpicking a raft of titles from Universal to screen on its service across European territories, taking in the UK and Ireland. Titles which will be screened across the service include classic Hitchcocks such as Marine, Rear Window and Vertigo, classics such as Touch Of Evil and more recent outings as well as more recent goodies such as Rumblefish Dazed And Confused and Being John Malkovich. Commenting on the deal, Mubi ceo Efe Cakarel said: “Our deal with NBC Universal is very exciting - their rich catalogue has allowed myself and the curators here at Mubi to run riot with our selections! We know that our community is going to devour such treasures as Billy Wilder’s The Lost Weekend and Sirk’s Written On The Wind, whilst also discovering the likes of Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution or the wonderful world of John Waters with Serial Mom and Cry Baby”.
To BAFTA on Piccadilly to hear director Christopher Nolan talk through his entire filmography, ending in a close look at Dunkirk, his latest blockbuster ahead of its December 18 physical release. It was a fascinating evening, with the erudite director revealing some of the secrets behind his masterpieces (including some highly amusing diversions on how he flipped the truck in The Dark Knight. Most interesting, and relevant, for our side of the business was a discourse on ensuring his films stand up to repeat viewing on home entertainment formats. He said: “I was the first generation that grew up with VHS, we got our first one when I was 11. It changes your relationship with film ,ancillary markets multiplied, there’s a wider opportunity, you’re seeing films you don’t even like three or four times. We were the first generation that had to take on that different relationship. Disney was the first to figure out [how to make films stand up to multiple viewings] in the 90s, kids were watching films hundreds of times. You put in visual things, I do it more in a narrative sense, buy you put layers in there. Some things won’t get noted until the second or third viewing.”
Also discussing home viewing this week was FDA president Lord Puttnam of Queensgate CBE, who gave an address at a reception hosted by the organisation. And he discussed how technology was improving the in-home experience, saying: “While the cinema has remained buoyant, digital presentation in the home has continued to improve – quite dramatically. With so many programmes on offer with ever-higher production values, consumers have been quick to upgrade to these significantly improved technologies. This Christmas, 4K TV sets are reported to be an especially hot ticket. They have quadruple the number of pixels of standard HD – and it shows!
Add compact, greatly improved sound quality, and a smart stick, and you have a whole galaxy of content – movies and otherwise – to stream legally, in superb quality.I’m not for one moment suggesting this is a match for the shared theatrical experience. But ‘home cinema’ has become extraordinarily impressive, and it’s getting better every day.” But, before concluding on a high note ahead of Christmas, he did discuss some of the industry’s unresolved problems, noting: “An imbalanced marketplace with inflexible windowing; an unstable exhibition sector; shifting consumer demographics; and a lack of transparency over when and how distributors’ payments for digital cinema conversion will end – and that short list barely scratches the surface of the issues we still need to address. Even the exchange rates have been battering our profitability since last year’s catastrophic referendum. Fortunately, for audiences everywhere, the desire for great storytelling experiences continues to appear insatiable. Watching movies, in and out of the home, will continue to be part and parcel of the Christmas holidays for millions of us, as individuals and as families, as much here in the UK as around the rest of the world.”
To the Elysee bar near Tottenham Court Road in the heart of London’s West End, where a whole host of familiar faces had gathered for one of the key events of the Christmas season, the VDC Christmas party. Hosted by the company, the event is a seasonal tradition for the industry and it was good to see so many familiar faces, from independents and bigger companies alike, out in force for the event. And the mood at the event seemed fairly upbeat too, with a few labels and suppliers celebrating recent successes… In a business that was built on social activity and relationships, it’s good to see a company, especially a long-standing and family oriented business such as VDC still flying the flag for this kind of event and still flourishing too. Commenting on the event, the company’s Ashwin Bedi said: “What a fantastic night and great to see so many old and new faces together to share in this Christmas cheer. We just don’t have enough gatherings in the industry anymore so it makes it really special when we get a chance to do something like this and bring the industry together. It’s a tough business and getting harder and we all have to work much harder to try and achieve our goals. It’s great after working so hard during the year we are able to take the chance and opportunity to thank everyone for the continued support throughout the year. Thank you to all those that came and made it a very special night, hopefully see you all again next year.”
Meanwhile, the event came after what was has been a strong year for the Sony DADC-partnered VDC operation, the company having ushered some big releases out through its doors, with current big gifting season titles such as Micky Flanagan and Kenny chief among them. This year has also seen it make further inroads into the nascent 4K Ultra HD operation as well as opening a New For office too. Commenting on the company’s 2017, Bedi said: “Business on the whole is good but hard!! We are fortunate to be in an amazing industry and we are always working towards finding ways to generate additional revenue within the industry to compensate the decline in other areas. We have added other services to our business such as Vinyl manufacturing, creative and special packaging, direct to consumer solutions, content brand promotions and would you believe manufacturing audio cassettes too. Maybe VHS soon who knows?”
Good to see new labels continuing to enter the business, showing faith in both physical media alongside the requisite digital release too. Latest to join the fray is Ascendant Releasing, whose The Stolen arrives on DVD and digital on Monday December 11 on the back of a theatrical bow last month. The New Zealand-based film stars Alice Eve as an immigrant who is forced to take drastic action herself when he son is kidnapped, as she follows his trail to a rough mining community. Commenting on the release and the company’s plans for the future, Ascendant’s Ascendant's Bart Ruspoli: "I read the script for The Stolen some time ago and thought it to be one of the most original westerns I'd ever come across, and also very current in its themes. So as soon as Producer Emily Corcoran approached me with the finished film I new it was something we wanted to be involved in. Alongside The Stolen we've bought Australian multi-award winning comedy Pawno to the UK. It's out now on iTunes, Amazon and Googleplay. It's a fantastic film set in a Melbourne pawn shop – An Aussie version of Kevin Smith's seminal Clerks. We also have martial arts actioner Nightshooters filming at the moment. It's directed by Marc Price who did zombie no budgeter Colin and stars Jailbreak's Jean Paul Ly in his first English speaking leading role. We're exec producing and selling globally through Lightening Entertainment. It's a film we're very excited about. It'll rival The Raid and I'm not exaggerating. Ascendant's ethos is to champion independent films, and give them the platform they deserve when much of the time they are overlooked as distributors focus on their tentpole movies. We hope to build up to an output of no more than five or six films a year for the first three years, in order to make sure we give each release our full attention."
Out on Monday is the dream team pairing of Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L Jackson, ably supported by the likes of Salma Hayek and Gary Oldman in The Hitman’s Bodyguard. It arrives on the back of its successful theatrical outing. And as Lionsgate’s Beth Hall said: “To celebrate the release of The Hitman’s Bodyguard on December 11 we have focussed on a fun and engaging publicity campaign aimed at mainly a male 16-34 audience. In order to hit our core audience our campaign will see us working with Unilad, influencer Joe Tasker and fitness sensation James Alexander Ellis. Our collaboration with Unilad sees us creating a bespoke ‘bodyguard protection’ video to be shared across their channels, similarly Joe Tasker and James Alexander Ellis will be working together to create a hilarious bodyguard piece of content to be shared across both of their channels. Alongside this we are also partnering with the likes of BOOHOO Man and Virgin Experience Days for competitions whilst also working with Ryan Reynolds stunt double Adam Brashaw for interviews across male sites Tempus and Rising Man. We are bolstering this vibrant publicity activity with a heavyweight media campaign – ranging from engaging social creative, an attention-grabbing outdoor campaign and a bespoke TV Sponsorship that will captivate our target audience.”
Also out on Monday December 11 is the latest Game Of Thrones outing, the seventh season. We’ve covered it extensively in our special published a few days ago. You can see it here. But its worth repeating the positive comment from HBO UK’s home entertainment chief Colin Smith, who said: “Each passing year it looks impossible to meet expectations on Game Of Thrones and then every year rolls around and continue to break records across broadcast, social media and retail. This is our first year releasing in December and we knew we would be facing a very different retail landscape than we are used to. But with one week to go we have already attracted global press for our marketing activity and our pre-orders have treble-digit growth. This isn't over yet. In fact it isn't even slowing down.” Among the activity, there’s an event which sees HBO UK teaming up with screening specialists Backyard Cinema over in east London for a special airing of not one but two episodes from S7, alongside some of the special features. What's more, the activity, again aimed at helping drive word of mouth and buzz around the release, will be hosted by Radio 1 favourite Chris Stark, whose name even boasts a Game Of Thrones connection. The event will be attended by assorted press, influencers and the GoT uberfans…
With the likes of Rise Of The Footsoldier 3: The Pat Tate Years, delivering some impressive PVOD numbers, and wartime tale Another Mother's Son continuing to perform, Signature is continuing to buck trends and enjoy some notable releases. Beavering away at its, er, signature higher profile day and date offerings, as well as its trademark high end non-theatrical releases, the company are proving that, with the right product and aligned marketing, the market continues to thrive. We've been speaking to Signature about the first quarter of the year and its home entertainment schedule. And it’s both a busy and impressive line-up. The quarter starts in earnest with Jungle, the high-profile survival tale starring Daniel Radcliffe, “Daniel Radcliffe is still a big draw. He came over to support the premium VOD release in October, resulting in some very high-profile exposure” said Signature's Emilie Barra. Beyond Skyline (January 8), won a loyal following off the back of its UK premiere at FrightFest’s Halloween event thanks to its stunning visual effects and world spanning production values. The film also has impressive martial arts and gaming links too - the former comes from The Raid star Iko Uwais. Survival thriller 6 Below pits Josh Hartnett against the elements, due on DVD on January 15, as Signature's Emilie Barra said, "the perfect proposition as we enter these wintery months". Into February and Orland Bloom is further proving his action credentials with The Shanghai Job. My Pet Dinosaur (February 12) is a whimsical live-action family adventure in vein of iconic, and nostalgic, movies E.T and Pete’s Dragon. The end of the month – February 26 to be precise - sees the home entertainment bow for $80 million actioner Renegades. The Luc Besson backed adventure, staring J.K .Simmons and Sullivan Stapleton, bleeds both wartime action with heist thrills and bad-ass explosions in abundance. As Emilie Barra noted: "It's one of the biggest budget film we've ever released and looks excellent on both the big and small screen.” Into March and All I See Is You (March 5) sees Blake Lively returning after the success of The Shallows and further showing her acting chops as she takes on the role of Gina, a married woman who undergoes a complex procedure to restore the sight she lost as a child. But Things soon take a dark and sinister turn as she navigates the strange new world around her. Horror legend Robert Englund stars The Midnight Man (March 12), a gothic horror based around a game, with his presence alone guaranteeing interest. Wings Of Eagles (March 19), is based on a true story and looks at remarkable athlete Eric Liddell and his wartime experiences post-Chariots Of Fire. The quarter is rounded off with Terrifier (March 19). A sadistic, twisted horror film that really does live up to it’s name. "Move over Pennywise," sa Signature said, "because there’s a new clown in town."
Meanwhile, Signature’s sister label Precision is keeping itself busy too. The imprint kicks off its Q1 slate with critically-acclaimed WWII war thriller Battleship island (January 22). With epic visuals and jaw-dropping production values, Battleship Island shows the little-known revolt from Korean coal miners, forced into labour caps by their Japanese enemies. January also sees the release of action thriller Pirates of Somalia (January 29) starring Al Pacino, Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips, Blade Runner 2049) and Evan Peters (X Men, American Horror Story) and from the team behind Beasts of No Nation, Non-Stop and Black Mass. The film depicts the unbelievable story of real-life rookie journalist Jay Bahadur who risked it all by going to Somalia in 2008 to investigate the pirates and give the world its first close-up look into the organised groups… without taking a few risks. Then on to horror thriller Bad Match (January 29) best described as “Fatal Attraction for the Tinder generation” which received its world premiere at Frightfest in August and is a fresh new twist on the genre. More chills in the form of drama Walking Out (February 5) set in icy Montana, in which a father and son hunting trip is interrupted by a brutal encounter. With a 92 per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes following its Sundance debut, and boasting an A-list cast including Matt Bomer and Bill Pullman, Walking Out is a tense survival thriller not to be missed. Maggie Q stars in Slumber (February 19) as a detective and psychologist who tries to protect a family from a demon that feeds on people in their nightmares. Stephen Lang (Avatar) and Jackson Rathbone (Twilight) star in brutal western Justice (February 19) set in 1868 days after the end of the American civil war. Finally, Redwood (February 19), another Frightfest standout title delivering a fresh twist on the vampire genre. When a couple gets lost in the woods, the outcome may not be what you expect. Starring Nicholas Brendon from Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame.
Eureka has unveiled its February and March releases, with further additions to its long-running Masters Of Cinema range and a trio of titles being added to its more recent Montage Pictures world cinema label too. February sees Michael, an early silent romantic drama and one o the first important landmarks in gay cinema. It’s being toned on February 12 by another MoC title, House, a Japanese fairy tale with a difference. Montage titles for February include The Housemaid, a contemporary gothic horror tale, and Strangled, a thriller fresh from London Film Festival screenings tracking a Hungarian serial killer. Into March, it has further MoC titles Legend Of The Mountain, a first ever UK home entertainment release for this classic, as well as Bogart and Ava Gardner in The Barefoot Contessa. There’s also martial arts flick Re:Born and Montage release Shirley: Visions Of Reality, an experimental tale based around the work of painter Edward Hopper. Commenting on the one of the key releases, House, Eureka’s Ruth Schofield said: “A rollercoaster ride without brakes, House was a gigantic smash on its original release in Japan and has gigantic crossover appeal as a film with something for all sections for the cult cinema audience. It is an amazing horror-comedy precursor to the likes of The Evil Dead and Peter Jackson’s Braindead and offers the chance for huge rediscovery for fans of Asian/Japanese cult cinema such as Shogun Assassin or The Host. It also features a cult soundtrack by Godiego.”
Meanwhile, Eureka is continuing to make further acquisitions, adding more titles to its recently launched Montage Pictures imprint. It has just announced it has picked up the rights to Icelandic film Under The Tree, a black comedy about a fierce dispute between neighbours directed by Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson. It will be released at cinemas next summer, followed by a Montage home entertainment release later in 2018. Commenting on the deal, Eureka md Ruth Schofield said: “Under the Tree is an apt film for the current political climate, a pitch-black dramedy where distrust and petty conflicts boil over into violent acts of extremism.”
FACT joined forces with a raft of other organisations, including HMRC an police, for a series of raids across Northern Ireland, 18 in all, taking in Belfast, Derry, Dundonald and Banbridge, seizing illegal streaming devices and laity and counterfeit tobacco. The raids, which saw 50 illegal set-top boxes seized alongside cigarettes, tobacco and cigars as well as cash, highlighted the links between organised crime and copyright theft, and resulted in two arrests, with enquiries continuing. Detective Inspector Natalie McNally said, “The joint operation today is a further demonstration of our determination to tackle organised crime and those that gain from it. Buying cheap counterfeit goods, cigarettes or tobacco products, which have been purchased without the relevant duty being paid, or illegal streaming devices – all of which may appear to be bargains – means that revenue to the legitimate economy is lost. This criminal activity puts jobs at risk and, ultimately, in terms of duty evasion, means there is less money available to provide for our public services, like health and education. There is also a wealth of evidence that shows money made from the sale of counterfeit goods is used to fund other forms of crime, so there really is no such thing as victimless crime. We all end up paying the price.” Kieron Sharp, CEO of FACT said: “Many people view piracy as a victimless crime, however consumers need to realise that illegal streaming devices offering unlawful access to TV, sport and films threaten our creative industries and the 1.9 million people in the UK working in them. From sound engineers, costume designers, set carpenters and camera crew – hundreds of thousands of people’s jobs are directly affected each time TV, sport or films are pirated. There are also many risks facing the consumer that they may not be aware of. Not only is using a device to stream content without the right permissions or subscriptions breaking the law, but these devices pose a fire and electrical risk, as well as often exposing users to malware, viruses and explicit content.”
AT THE MOVIES
Quentin Tarantino, you say? Directing a Star Trek feature film? And it’s going to be X-, or rather R-rated? Well, that’s the story that has both emerged and become even more defined this week as the wunderkind director said he’s pitched an idea for a movie to Paramount and JJ Abrams and they’d accepted. Not only that, but it’s like to be a suitably Tarantino-esque grown-up take on the Enterprise and crew. Stand by for more on this in the coming months…
Perhaps the only news to emerge this week that is less unlikely than Tarantino boldly going where no man has gone before is the story that there’s a new Pokemon related flick on the way, Detective Pikachu, with none other than Ryan Reynolds sited to don a motion capture suit to play the titular hero…
All change again as the ramifications of ongoing allegations of inappropriate behaviour continue to change the lineups of various films. With rumours swirling around about his on-set behaviour on Freddie Mercury as well as historic allegations, Bryan Singer has been fired from the Queen flick, to be replaced by homegrown helmer Dexter Fletcher. And House Of Cards is back on, albeit without Kevin Spacey; expect to see Robin Wright causing all kinds of problems on her own…
TWEET OF THE WEEK
Follow us on www.twitter.com/theraygun…
TRAILERS OF THE WEEK
Literally trippy visuals…
This week’s biggie, it finally arrived after a week’s worth of teasing…
New Spidey animated feature…
Bruhl and co in hijack alert…
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