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TESCO MAKES CONNECTIONS
PERFECT FOR THE 'GIFT' MARKET
'SERBIAN': CUTS NEEDED, FRIGHTFEST PULLS
'SPIT' NEEDS POLISH TOO, SAYS BBFC
SLY AND CO HIT NEW HEIGHTS
BBC MAKES SENSIBLE 'MAD' MOVE
VINE WINS GAG GONG AHEAD OF NEW DVD
PARAMOUNT FEASTS ON ICE CREAM, FAJITAS AND DRINKS
A RAPPING PRESS RELEASE
AGENCY LAUNCHES NEW DIVISION
'LOST' MARATHON
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
AT THE MOVIES
SITE OF THE WEEK
TWEET OF THE WEEK
TRAILERS OF THE WEEK
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 It Was A Good Week For... The Expendables, number one at UK cinemas, now just wait for the DVD release…
It Was A Bad Week For… Horror fans as the BBFC gets its scissors out… A week on Monday, September 6, is a crucial date on the calendar. Alongside that week's big trade-wide releases, such as Kick-Ass, Exit Through The Gift Shop and the latest from Doctor Who, it also marks the release of the first film in Tesco's ongoing deal with Amber Entertainment, released exclusively through the retail giant, both in stores and online. The grocer has already started putting its weight behind the title, Paris Connections, from the pen of Jackie Collins, and is flagging it as its lead title online (see here). Its PR machinery has swung into action too – read The Guardian's feature here (under the headline Tesco Goes to Trolleywood, and the supermarket puns come thick and fast throughout). As the newspaper noted, "if successful, it could revolutionise the movie business, removing distributors and agents in one swipe and transforming how many films are made and funded". And as Amber producer Ileen Maisel told the paper: "Our responsibility is to provide different kinds of content to the consumer. The old prejudice of straight to DVD just being a B kind of movie should be thrown out. A DVD premiere is a new, exciting way for customers and audiences to see different kinds of product." She added: "One of the promises we made to Jackie, we made to our actors, we made to Tesco, is that, to all intents and purposes, it's going to smell, taste and feel like a feature." While its first acquisition, Me And Orson Welles, was a decent, if not outstanding performer, Paris Connections is key to Tesco and Amber's strategy of films based on novels from the likes of Philip Pullman, Judy Blume, Karin Slaughter, Josephine Cox and Dick and Felix Francis. Needless to say, we expect the business to be watching the sales figures of Paris Connections keenly. Tesco's Kevin Dersley said: "It's been a great experience working with the team at Amber and Jackie, we believe we have built an extremely comprehensive campaign and are very excited about putting Paris Connections in front of our customers."
Also on September 6, comes the aforementioned Exit Through The Gift Shop. Now, it's not often that a supplier says elements of the marketing campaign are still to be confirmed, but, given the fact that the film involves graffiti artist extraordinaire Banksy, maybe one shouldn't be surprised. For one key part of the release will be some kind of "activity" from the guerilla spray-can painter; given the media's love of all things Banksy-related, expect it to receive a high profile. Revolver's release is a must for the hordes who've bought Banksy's book, or other related ephemera (there are scores of prints of pictures of Banksy's works for sale at trendy markets everywhere), as it features a pair of 2D glasses (honestly), stickers, newly-created artwork, while the DVD and Blu-ray will feature deleted scenes and two short films. As well as Banksy's stunt, the release will be supported with a Banksy designed press campaign, social media elements and PR with a celebrity-based focus. Revolver's Tim Westbey said: "We’re really excited to be bringing such a unique product to the market. The exclusive extra content Banksy has created for the DVD and Blu-ray should ensure Exit Through The Gift Shop becomes a real collectors' item, and is a great way for the public to own a piece of Banksy art." See the packshot here. This week on The Raygun website, more in our ongoing My Inspiration series, with new contributions from High Fliers' Tom Stewart and Revolver's Jon Sadler, as well as a look at Arrow Video's latest release, our weekly round up of press coverage, clips, trailers (including a great Inbetweeners one) and loads more. Click here for more…
 More on the shock title A Serbian Film. The film, which, as we noted in last week's newsletter, is set to be hugely controversial, has been pulled from this weekend's Frightfest after the BBFC demanded nearly four minutes' worth of cuts for Revolver's planned DVD and Blu-ray release. The local authority for the event, Westminster council, which has the power to veto films, had said it and others could be screened in their BBFC-friendly versions. But with the three minutes and 48 seconds' worth of cuts taken out (49 separate instances in total), the event said it could not be shown it should be seen in "its entirety as per the director's vision". The film was viewed by the top brass at the BBFC, and while the organisation acknowledged Revolver's submission that it was an allegory for Serbia itself, it felt it went beyond what was acceptable. BBFC director David Cooke said: "The cuts to A Serbian Film do not detract from the message of the film but remove the most problematic images of s*xual and s*xualised violence. Whilst the Board understands that these images are intended to make a political point, that does not remove the genuine harm risks to which they give rise." While its Frightfest screening was pulled, it is not clear what will happen to the film next. Also trimmed by the BBFC (for a theatrical certificate, its has not been submitted for DVD certificate yet) was Anchor Bay's remake of I Spit On Your Grave. This time, the BBFC demanded 17 cuts totalling 43 seconds' worth of material and was due to the rape of a woman. The original was hugely notorious and was one of the titles that led to the creation of existing legislation, so it is not necessarily surprising it ran into trouble, even if, as the board noted, it has "higher production values". Cooke added: "The cuts to this version of I Spit on Your Grave, which the Board has required, remove elements that tend to eroticise s*xual assault (for example, through the use of titillation), as well as other elements that tend to endorse s*xual assault (for example, by encouraging viewer complicity by the use of camcorder footage, filmed by the rapists, during the various scenes of s*xual assault). With these cuts made, the film’s scenes of very strong terrorisation and sexual violence remain potentially shocking, distressing or offensive to some adult viewers, but are also likely to be found essentially repugnant and aversive. The Board takes the view that, with these cuts, they are not credibly likely to encourage imitation." (Incidentally, those asterisks are ours, not the BBFCs, inserted to avoid some of the industry's tougher firewalls…) Lionsgate was celebrating this week after its big summer blockbuster The Expendables smashed its way to the top of the UK box office charts, a result that bodes well for its pre-Christmas DVD and Blu-ray release. Its weekend haul, including previews, came in at just under £4 million and followed hot on the heels of its US bow, which was Sylvester Stallone's biggest opening weekend ever in the States. The action flick's strong second week in America (it has now taken some $65 million) means the film topped the box office charts on both sides of the Atlantic. The company is now gearing itself up for the film's home entertainment release which, given the DVD-friendly standing of its stars such as Stallone, Statham, Jet Li et al, should convert strongly. Lionsgate senior product manager Sarah Sanders said: "We're delighted with the number one success at the box office for The Expendables which means we’re well on our way to a fantastic final box office result, giving us a brilliant set up for the home entertainment stage come December."  Meanwhile, also from Lionsgate, it's been interesting to note that the TV transmission of the next series of the wonderful Mad Men has been brought forward by the BBC in a bid to counteract illegal downloaders. The series, pretty much The Raygun's favourite US programme, has already started its fourth series in the US and was not due to air here until January 2011. But the threat of illegal downloading and streaming, as well as the buzz surrounding the new season (it drew a record figure for the programme for its first episode, ahead of the previous season's finale) caused a rethink at the BBC. No official date for the UK DVD release yet, although it is now almost certain to arrive in the first part of the year. Lionsgate's Kaz Mills said: "We’re delighted that viewers will be given the chance to view Season 4 of Mad Men on the BBC earlier than originally expected. Here at Lionsgate UK we can’t wait to execute our biggest and best Mad Men campaign in Q1 2011. We can’t give away too much at the moment, however we are looking forward to planning a series of themed events, stylish promotional tie ins and, of course, more premium packaging for when the coolest show on the planet hits shelves next year."
The only downside to the whole thing was the rather foolish journalist in The Observer who wrote about the BBC's decision and then proceeded to list the relevant websites someone could download or stream the programme from – illegally of course – complete with full URLs. We weren't too impressed with that one… With industry acquisitions executives all scurrying around Edinburgh trying to sign this year's hot comic, as well as renewing acquaintances with comedians (and their agents), it's been interesting to read the numerous reports on the best joke of this year's festival. The winner? This belter from Tim Vine: "I've just been on a once-in-a-lifetime holiday. Tell you what, never again." The gag from the quick-fire comic, who got into the Guinness Book Of World Records for telling the most jokes in a set period of time for a previous DVD outing, received acres of publicity, with pretty much every newspaper running the story about his triumph in winning the Funniest Joke Of The Fringe gong, as sponsored by TV channel Dave. All of which will sit nicely with the November 22 release of Vine's next DVD, Punslinger, via Spirit Entertainment. Paramount has confirmed the partners for its forthcoming Movie Feast promotional activity, which will see it offering 100 or so of its catalogue titles, from Transformers Revenge Of The Fallen and Up In The Air to older titles such as Flashdance, for prices from £2.99, along with on-pack discounts for food and drinks brands. It is teaming up with Haagen Dazs ice cream, Old El Paso (for its New Extra Mild Fajita & Beef & Bean Burrito Dinner) and Shloer drinks, making for the perfect night in. All three will be highlighting the activity via mailouts, websites and the likes, in addition to Paramount's own TV and press campaign. Marketing director Lesley Henry said: "We are hugely proud to be leading the way and creating a studio-first initiative for our customers. This truly unique campaign offers customers the chance to experience a movie ‘night in’ with a great value offer from some of the most popular household brands."  We at The Raygun get our fair share of press releases and, in this paperless world, the word count seems to have sky-rocketed (three or four page press releases are often the norm, whereas when people were printing them off, they were a lot shorter), but we absolutely loved the release for E1 and Vertigo's StreetDance 3D. Agency Premier PR has sent out an MP3 for the title with rappers extolling the virtues of the film, giving its release date (September 27), synopsis and details of the stars and soundtrack. It's original and works (it sounds a bit like an old Clipse or N*E*R*D track to us, we can even singalong to it now). Listen here. It forms part of a campaign that will see the DVD and Blu-ray release being launched at a major event featuring its stars (George Sampson, Diversity, Flawless et al) held at the HMV Forum on September 27 (the retailer has started giving away tickets this week). E1's Tom Jarvis said: "“his is obviously a very exciting release for us and we are looking to creative a highly impactful, standout marketing campaign for the UK’s number one smash hit movie of the summer. This press release was created to ensure maximum impact across press and play to one of the many key strengths of the film – the incredible UK-based soundtrack. The launch event will be a great platform to showcase the fantastic UK talent involved in the movie and to celebrate what we hope will be a fantastic home entertainment release." Also on the PR side, agency Romley Davies Publicity has launched a new division, Romley Davies TX, specialising in broadcast PR and production. It offers a full TV and radio press facility as well as a full service in-house digital film crew, EPO production, audio press kids for radio, junket interviews and ISDN studios, the latter via a deal with production company Wise Buddah. It is currently working on projects such as Coronation Street's 50th anniversary, Momentum's The King's Speech and Warner's Scooby-Doo activity. Romley Davies' Vanessa Davies said: "Our new TX division is a perfect progression for Romley Davies. We are now able to offer clients a fuller spectrum of services that complement their campaigns without budget constraints. Radio is also currently at all time high with over 90 per cent of the population tuning in every week. For us broadcast has always been and remains as important as other developing areas of the industry." So, how much would you pay for a 12 pack of beer? A fiver? A tenner? Or $5,000? Well, the latter, if you're a Lost fan. A major auction of ephemera from the series was auctioned off last week, and it proves that the devotion the series inspired is far from over. That price for the beer (Dharma branded, admittedly) and the $2,750 paid for Sawyer's copy of a paperback of Watership Down, were arguably the most ludicrous prices paid; the near $50,000 for a Dharma VW van was the highest. Meanwhile, in the UK, Disney is preparing itself for the September 13 release of the final season of the series with a mammoth screening at London's Prince Charles Cinema. The event will screen the series in its entirety – that's a whopping 80 hours' worth, beginning on the morning of the Monday release and likely to finish on the Thursday with the finale episode. The cinema will host some 280 fans, who are being told to bring sleeping bags, sandwiches and, we hope for all their sakes, a change of clothes or two. For more information for the mentalists among you, email lostmarathon@taylorherring.com, the rest of us can read about it in the PR it is likely to generate.  QUOTE OF THE WEEK "The level of quality we are getting, the technicians we have, all of these people make feature films. So they are basically getting Tesco's Finest for Tesco's brand cost." Amber's Ileen Maisel on Tesco's Paris Connections. There were so many supermarket puns in The Guardian's Tesco story (see above) we couldn't resist one more quote from it… AT THE MOVIES We've pretty much covered off the box office already, what with The Expendables dominating the proceedings in the US and the UK. Over here, Salt bowed with just over £2 million, while Toy Story 3 eased past the £60 million mark. Piranha 3D took almost £1.5 million, slightly more than Marmaduke, making it another busy week. It's a graphic novel. It's got vampires. So it's pretty obvious that sooner or later someone would come sniffing around a movie adaptation of Nightfall, and lo, the prophecy has come true, as Saw director and creator James Wan has signed up to direct the filmed adaptation of the comic book. It's the latest in a line of vampire flicks, the pitch for this would probably be it's "Oz meets 30 Days Of Night", as the vampires are in charge of a prison… More comic book news: Disney is now in charge of the Marvel empire with all new franchises going forward coming from its own studio (although some of the titles currently being filmed will be at Paramount, and Sony still has Spider-man, Fox the X-Men et al). So what will its first new to screen superhero be? Word is it'll be Iron Fist, a 70s, Bruce Lee first kung fu boom-inspired all-fighting, all-singing powerhouse… Although it seemed of its time, we reckon this could work, but only if done properly… Twitter has already proved to be the inspiration for onscreen adaptations, such as the forthcoming TV series based on Sh*t My Dad Says. The next site for filmed versions may prove to be iPhone apps, with the news, from Variety, that the creators of the Angry Birds app (an infectious yet highly irritating game for the iPhone, like you don't know what it is) have been touring studios this week with a view to creating a screen version of the game. How it'll work is anyone's guess, let's just hope it's not as addictive… SITE OF THE WEEK More like a viral of the week, but this is a brilliant bit of marketing for The Last Exorcism, promoted via Chatroulette…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNSaurw6E_Q TWEET OF THE WEEK And Scott Pilgrim continues to dominate the proceedings over on Twitter, with, by our reckoning, The Girl Who Played With Fire (Momentum), also creating a buzz. Follow us on http://twitter.com/theraygun TRAILERS OF THE WEEK "I was trapped and had to cut my arm off." A true story made (hacked off) flesh from Danny Boyle: http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/fox_searchlight/127hours/ "I was a spy and the government grassed me up." Another true story turned into a film by a well-known director (Doug Liman): http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/summit/fairgame/ "I went mental. Or did I?" Is this a mockumentary, or the real thing? Is it "inspired by true events", like the previous two trailers, or is it an elaborate in-joke? (We reckon the latter.) http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/magnolia/imstillhere/ A remake of Metrodome's Pour Elle, actually looks pretty good (and not "inspired by true events"…): http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/lions_gate/thenextthreedays/ Martin Scorsese's latest, it's actually a commercial, Mean Streets it ain't, despite the presence of the Stones: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG-nnDlnWrA To subscribe to The Raygun newsletter, please email info@theraygun.co.uk
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