WORKING TITLE EDGAR WRIGHT Soho movie shoot begins

https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/1070601-production-begins-horror-pic-last-night-in-soho

https://movieweb.com/last-night-in-soho-poster/

Bridget Jones's Baby trailers, chat shows etc

WORKING TITLE exclusive SUPRISING ED SHEERAN, 20th September 2016




WORKING TITLE PLAYLIST,

Bridget Jones's Baby boom? Smart marketing, modernised values

DIRECTOR: Sharon Maguire
BUDGET: $35m
BOX OFFICE: UK $60m, US $24m, World $212m
PRODUCTION COMPANY CREDITS: Miramax*, StudioCanal, Universal Pictures, Working Title Films *presumably they retain rights as original film co-producer with WT
DISTRIBUTION: Universal, UIP 62 countries 'Universal is releasing in most territories with Studiocanal handling France, Germany and Austria' [Deadline]
AGE RATINGS: BBFC 15, MPAA R, Lux EA.


Much more to come on one of the most significant Working Title productions for years. They have multiple highly successful franchises (Nanny McPhee, Bean, Johnny English...) but none are as iconic and central to their identity as BJD, the franchise based on Helen Fielding's hit novel.

LINKS:
Wiki.
BoxOfficeMojo.
IMDB.
The-Numbers.
Working Title page.
Daily Mail. #1 in 24 countries; biggest UK September opening ever


AGE RATINGS
Quite an extraordinary variation on this one: BBFC 15 and MPAA (US) R, but U in Luxembourg!

PRODUCTION HISTORY
I've blogged on this for a few years now (here; here on novel + musical; here in a wider post on WT franchising): BJD3 was announced in July 2009! It was then formally greenlit by Universal + WT in October 2011 ... but would take another 4 years for shooting to commence, with Hugh Grant dropping out and a change of director (Paul Zeig was originally attached, but with the film seeming dead in the water Sharon Maguire wasn't attached until negotiations with the principal cast resumed again in June 2015). [details from Wiki]

DIRECTOR
Sharon Maguire was overlooked for the first sequel...

Sharon Maguire, who directed the original Bridget Jones’s Diary in 2001, returned to direct the feature film from a script she co-wrote with David Nicholls (One Day) [source]

FRANCHISE HISTORY

BoxOfficeMojo BJD franchise page.

BJBABY too British? Japan, Greece, US etc considered

IN THIS POST:

A nuanced view of WT's strategy.

Starting with Saunders' excellent Telegraph article I'll look at arguments that BJB is too British for the US market; non-English markets experience a radically different Bridget through culturally-weighted translations (eg Spain) - and even censorship (Japan). Japanese subtitles reposition Jones as closer to a traditional stereotypical female through certain formalities of grammar. Greeks were among many non-UK/US (Australia/NZ/Canada?) audiences to be left none the wiser when Aretha's Respect kicked in at a key point in the original movie - iconic tunes that 'everyone knows' don't necessarily cross Western, English-language borders.

Saunders cites a number of academic studies in doing so - this is a much-studied franchise and cultural phenomenon, so challenge yourself and look out for more in-depth reading!

One such example that I will re-read in due course, not least as it presents intriguing arguments on the tensions between WT and Richard Curtis' script between appealing to the domestic and US markets: Jones is at once Americanised and critical of American culture ... is the book Falling in Love Again: Romantic Comedy in Contemporary Cinema (Abbott, Jermyn eds. (2008)). 

I'll get to view the film in due course - but your own (or second hand) observations from this would be welcomed (post a comment).

TOO CULTURALLY ALIEN FOR THE US MARKET?

Headline for the Saunders piece.

CROWDFUNDING Fans dying to pay Indiegogo

https://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3556069/director-promises-laid-rest-exhumed-will-bloodiest-film-time-help-fund-today/

WORKING TITLE how they integrated with Universal

Its a £20 journal article ... I'll maybe get it for next year ...

WORKING TITLE key films with trailers

Comparing WT/Warp box office...
Selected WT box office.
...
MBL
Trailer.



4WEDS
Trailer.


NHILL
Trailer.

Working Title and Warp - selected box office stats

As I've written on/discussed these elsewhere, I'll simply add the screenshots. You would never try to remember all, but rather pick out a few, looking for one or more of:

• the total UK box office
• the total US box office
• the rough % of world box office the US (or UK) represents
• the length of run [how many weeks it was in cinemas for] - especially useful looking at Indie films that basically tour the arthouse circuit with a limited number of prints
• the number of screens
• if the Gant Rule can be seen with the figures
• the number of countries it got theatrical distribution in (many WT films get 40+; World's End was notably quite disappointing)

You can find some tallies and notes on this in both the Warp pack and the list of WT films

BOX OFFICE COMPARISON Working Title v Warp Films

TBC
(but here's a start)

WORKING TITLE

BJ:Edge of Reason The-Number.com report; box office report; with the 2001 original taking $282m and the 2004 sequel $264m, only Les Miserables (2012) keeps the franchise off WT's all-time top spot ($442m) [the-numbers all-time list].

Other films that come close: Bean (1997) $257m, Love Actually (2003) $248m, 4 Weddings (1994) $242m [their most profitable film as a $4.5m budget!], Everest (2015) $204m. Those are the 7 WT films that grossed $200m+ worldwide.

9 more top $100m: Burn After Reading (2008) $168m, Johnny English Reborn (2011) $165m, The Interpreter (2005) $163m, About a Boy (2001) $131m,  Atonement (2007) $130m, Everest (1998 44min IMAX film) $128m, The Theory of Everything (2014) $122m, Billy Elliot (2000) $110m [2nd most profitable as a $5m WT2 production], Paul (2011) $101m.

Thats 16 grossing $100m+ in total, with several more at $90m+.

The-Numbers.com provides estimated average figures for WT:

AVERAGE BUDGET: $23M
AVERAGE US BOX OFFICE: $26M
AVERAGE GLOBAL BOX OFFICE: $80M

BBFC update ratings guidelines Jan 2019

Rape scenes no longer allowed in films rated suitable for under-15s https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jan/16/scenes-rape-banned-uk-films-rated-suitable-under-15s?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger

CINEMATOGRAPHY rise and fall of DOP and digital challenge

One perfect shot: the unsung power of cinematography https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jan/10/cinematography-cinematographers-films-role-directors-artistry?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger

WORKING TITLE open school

https://www.theguardian.com/film/shortcuts/2017/nov/13/lessons-working-title-school-teach-north-london.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/nov/12/working-title-love-actually-open-school-london-diversity.

FILM SET CREDITS TERMS

https://www.shutterstock.com/blog/understand-film-set-production-lingo

GENRE EGX Grimsby (Working Title, 2016)

This is NOT a social realist film! We are, however, using this comedy (spy/action satire) to help us clarify the characteristics of social realist films: we'll contrast the media language of this with what we've observed is conventional for the social realist genre...

PRODUCTION: Working Title, Big Talk, Village Roadshow [US partner] +2 
DISTRIBUTION: Sony (US), Colombia (UK); [no China] 36 territories
BUDGET: $35m
BOX OFFICE: UK $7.5m, US $7m; World $25m
BBFC 15, MPAA R


SOME CONTEXT: An example of the impact of the changed, reduced status of WT within its parent big six conglomerate, NBC-Universal. WT had been receiving $600m funding every 7 years, with clearance to greenlight any project up to a $25m budget - but that has been reduced to a 'first look' deal, meaning Universal can decide whether they want to 'pick up' a WT project or not. In this case they didn't, Sony (and its subsidiary Colombia) did ... and maybe Universal were wise, as it failed to even recoup its budget, never mind the 2-3 times budget generally accepted as needed to move into profit.

The Gant rule obviously doesn't apply: its a very British film - so much so that the title had to be changed for US and international markets as the place name Grimsby has no recognition and is essentially meaningless and confusing outside the UK (unlike London). 

Idents: Sony - sooooo unlikely to see a big 6 name on a social realist flick!!
Village Roadshow - US production partner, again essentially unheard of for a UK social realist film (unlike comedy)!!
No ident for WT!
Non-diegetic, well known commercial track (R Kelly) as an audio bridge over 2 idents + opening shots. The OST features Ed Sheeran!!!! Its unusual to have any lyrical music in SR films, incidental music is more typical (eg Tyrannosaur, but TisEng does feature some). 
Black screen before shot (after ident 4); no fade in. Unusual choice of (M)CU, no ES. Cuts to another (M)CU showing co-protagonist's huge England football back tatoo, sweat, and England football top + beer can visible. 

The tightly framed shots for the opening sex scene are made comic by use of a master shot revealing the location, a bed showroom. Poverty signified through the large signs highlighting the sale, lowest prices in Grimsby, and actual (real life rock bottom) prices: just $$89.99 for a double bed.

The stereotyping starts immediately: the overgrown hair, huge sideburns, ridiculous tattoo, football top, beer can ... and then the reveal of moronic, antisocial behaviour (the realism of SR can lead to showing antisocial behaviour: the violent lead in TYR, even Shaun in the newsagents). 

Its a very short opening scene - contrasts with TisEng, TYR etc. Just 30 secs then into titles sequence - soundtracked by a huge hit from Blur! 

Shot 1 of titles sequence IS typical for SR tho! A grim looking terraced street, heavily graffitied, many boarded up; shot even worse, litter, broken chainlink barrier, metal sheets boarding up every house. A pernicious stereotype - think of how TisEng features SOME grim mise-en-scene (the subway; the terraced street the film title is over) but counterpoints this with smart detail like Shaun's bike left unchained + safe in his garden with its low wall (no litter or overgrown messes there either). There is graffiti, though this is used for verisimilitude and political points from Meadows: Maggie is a Twat; Screwdriver [referring to an 'oi' skinhead, neo-Nazi band, Skrewdriver]

BFI REPRESENTATION Villains scarred for strife

BFI to refuse funding for films with facially-scarred villains https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/nov/29/bfi-to-refuse-funding-for-films-with-facially-scarred-villains?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger

NETFLIX Working Title dumped by Coens

Great quote on the biz not supporting mid-budget, non-franchise productions like theirs. Most of their prior movies have been produced by Working Title - mid-budget is very much their niche, though arthouse (as Coens flicks would be termed despite their level of mainstream success) is less associated with WT!

https://www.darkhorizons.com/coens-on-why-scruggs-is-at-netflix/

DISTRIBUTION INDIE FINANCING Apple signs up Indie producer

The deal they've inked is for film productions from A24, a company with separate deals with Amazon and DirecTV.

This is part of Apple's long expected gearing up for an Amazon rivalling subscription service, rumoured to include film, music, TV, magazines, possibly more.

It shows the increased possibilities for Indies beyond theatrical distribution, with Amazon Prime likewise an important outlet for many low budget productions.

https://www.macrumors.com/2018/11/15/apple-hires-indie-studio-a24-to-produce-films/

CINEMA Netflix force 4 walling exclusive for theatrical release

https://www.slashfilm.com/almo-drafthouse-not-playing-roma/

AUDIENCE Twilight of the forgotten gender

“The part that shocked Hollywood was that the film’s stunning success was fuelled by ‘girl power,’” says Melissa Silverstein of Women and Hollywood. “The general consensus in Hollywood is that films and books made for men and boys are seen as ‘universal’, and things that are made for women and girls are somehow seen as ‘other.’ Women are seen as a ‘niche’ audience. This ‘nichification’ of women has been one of the most enduring problems facing the much-maligned chick flick.”

The sensation of Twilight in 2008 caused Hollywood studios to perk up and pay attention to a new ticket-buying demographic – young women (and, let’s be honest, their vampire-struck mums). For years, the superhero and adventure franchises had faithfully served the 12- to 25-year-old male audience, without taking the economic power of the handbag into account.

Ten years of Twilight: the extraordinary feminist legacy of the panned vampire saga https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/nov/02/ten-years-of-twilight-the-extraordinary-feminist-legacy-of-the-panned-vampire-saga?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger

NETFLIX MARKETING black art of thumbnails

https://www.nme.com/news/tv/netflix-accused-of-deceiving-black-users-with-manipulative-personalised-artwork-2392085

FRANCHISE FATIGUE as Han Solo makes loss

The empire strikes whack

The franchise model remains king - just look at the top 10 box office on a typical week, or the annual top 10s, and you'll see this domination (existing audience + brand recognition makes them easier to market, and for CGI epics costs can be spread over multiple movies - especially when planned out like the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Avatar sequels or Star Wars movies).

Great new alliterative term to be aware of though - franchise fatigue.
The legendary, nostalgia-fuelled status of the Star Wars franchise is clearly sinking under the weight of annual releases, with the poorly received Han Solo spin-off not quite a franchise killer but the 1st in the series to make a loss!

Just like the star system (Richard Dyer) that Star Wars itself is undermining, nothing is set in stone in the film industry - which is why we talk of conventions not rules!

See 'Too much, too fast': Disney to scale back production of Star Wars movies (Film Guardian - which you can read regularly via the free Guardian app; you will learn a lot more than we can cover in lessons by doing so!)

Amazon Netflix IMAX releases?

They may still buy or launch their own cinemas to showcase and monetise their original output, but discussions on IMAX screenings seem closer...

Once again, we see convergence - in this case between traditional media (cinemas, though IMAX and IMAX 3D are more recent as a relatively mass market feature) and the digital streaming upstarts. The traditional film industry, especially the distributors and exhibitors who are usually cut out by online-only distribution, have been openly hostile, with annual rows at the Cannes Film Festival the most high profile example of this (there have been protests over allowing Netflix films to screen - quickly blocked by rules which require a long gap between cinema and online release).

Here's a snippet from the article:

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Gelfond, who has led IMAX for the past decade, was a speaker at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia conference earlier this week – the same conference where the new owner of HBO called Netflix the Walmart of streaming services. Gelfond, however, had nothing bad to say about Netflix or any other company. 

Instead, he said that his company is “in active discussions with all of the streaming [services] about an IMAX release”, so we may be looking at more than just a Netflix IMAX partnership, but a team-up between the large-screen exhibitor and every streaming service out there – assuming these talks lead to deals. Gelfond called out the fact that many of the streaming services’ original films are lacking an “opening day,” and implied that IMAX was the best way to cut through the clutter of the entertainment marketplace, saying “the number one way to event-size the size [of a movie] is in IMAX.”

BIFS 2018 Indie film fest

http://www.bifilmseason.lu/current-season

You have a great example of an Indie festival on your doorstep. Co-sponsored by the British and Irish embassies, but featuring many films which are co-productions with various EU nations (including Luxembourg, eg Eaten By Lions), the festival also gives you an opportunity to hear from ... and directly speak to a range of film directors (and actors, producers...).

That's quite a line-up!!! See the site for screening dates

Here's the list with Wiki link, or other as available + a trailer playlist

NB: some of these contain swearing. Any BBFC age rating is listed, but many are pre-release (use trailers and descriptions as a guide). Do bear in mind that UK ratings are routinely much higher then in BeNeLux. Synopses from BIFS.

• 
  

Playlist Link

Any guest speaker/s in red.

Black 47 (IE / LU / US) [official] Lance Daly (director) BBFC: 15 Fri 21st 830 Cinematheque
Genre : Drama - Duration: 96 mins
Synopsis : Set in Ireland during the Great Famine, the drama follows an Irish Ranger who has been fighting for the British Army abroad, as he abandons his post to reunite with his family. Despite experiencing the horrors of war, he is shocked by the famine's destruction of his homeland and the brutalization of his people and his family.

EU to enforce quotas on Netflix, Amazon

https://www.engadget.com/2018/09/04/netflix-amazon-european-content-quota-eu-law/

CINEMA 3 screen gimmick as 3D fades

https://comicbook.com/movies/2018/08/14/movie-theaters-add-3-screen-immersion-battle-netflix/

FANMADE HALLOWEEN remake UGC gets serious

This is just a perfect story - as students you'll toil over 2mins of material for a clear beneficial purpose. The guys (? haven't gender checked) behind a short which remakes bits of the original Carpenter slasher archetype would expect less benefit than a student - and almost certainly incurred greater expense.

Check out their story (and maybe cogitate on the weird Gus Van Sant Psycho shot-by-shot remake...)

https://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3509362/video-first-look-fan-made-shot-shot-remake-halloween/

Cinema $10 unlimited month pass brings Netflix style to theatres

NoFilmSchool brought my attention to a HUGE landmark moment in the US - a Netflix-style $10/month pass for 'unlimited' cinema screenings.

NoFilmSchool article.

The MoviePass homepage.

That brings the disruption of digitisation to the a new level, and undermines (though it may take time yet for its impact through user numbers to grow) the traditional cinema exhibition business model: movie 'prints' (just as likely to be streams, Blu-Rays or HDDs now) are rented by cinemas from distributors and a further share of ticket revenue passed back to distributors. There is variation in this basic model depending mostly on the power of the distributor and whether its a tentpole big six production they're touting, but thats a rough outline of how the production (sell all rights to or agree a revenue share with a distributor) to distribution to exhibition film cycle ends up (before further distribution and exhibition through TV, and distribution through physical media, downloads and streams - rental and purchase.

If the audience figures are no longer a simple guide to box office, that suggests a steep medium to long term decline in revenues. Unless its the cinema-avoiding public (non-noisy nuisances, ie kids/teens!) that mostly takes up these passes. The 15-24 age range is the key cinema market as you can see from this BFI chart (page 4):


You can find a great analysis of the older audience in 2017 here, by Stephen Follows. This US analysis by Nielsen also shows roughly 30% of the cinema audience as 12-24, or nearly 50% for 12-34.

There is dispute over how big a revenue driver concessions (popcorn etc) really are, but this certainly will (in the style of bucket airlines like easyJet) shift the profit-making onus onto food and drinks - which distributors are locked out of. See this post for details on how vital the huge mark-ups cinemas make on concessions (typically 85% profit on every dollar spent) are.

The unlimited is limited: one viewing a day, no IMAX or 3D (maybe a supplement charge for longer movies?), but that still means a possible 30c viewing!

This isn't actually completely new ... many moons ago I bought Virgin Cinema monthly passes - £15 if I remember right, back in 1999. That enabled me to be amongst the shellshocked hordes stumbling out of the Phantom Menace midnight premiere wondering what the hell we'd just seen, and what kind of evil madman could invent JarJar Binks - but get over it by going to see plenty more decent movies in the days and weeks that followed.

I figured Curzon, with its membership scheme, would likely do something similar, and sure enough they also offer an unlimited annual pass for its cinemas.

Here in Luxembourg you can also get a monthly pass from the monopoly chain.

UPDATE: PREMIUM FOR HOT NEW FLICKS + AMC LAUNCH RIVAL
MoviePass are selling this as working with the industry to help push passholders to their quieter midweek slots: charging a $2 premium for some new releases, though often specifically for weekend screenings; they're also adding 3D/IMAX to their offering.
MacRumors reported:

Surge pricing is a dynamic, time-based strategy that apps like Uber use when a large amount of customers are requesting rides in the app but there aren't enough drivers to taxi them around. 
Now this will extend to MoviePass, so on opening weekends or at particularly busy late-night showings of popular movies, monthly subscribers should expect to pay a bit more above their locked-in $9.95/month subscription price. 
For IMAX and 3D movies, users will be given the option to pay an added fee for the premium screenings, ranging from $2-$6 according to Lowe.
The MoviePass news comes after AMC just yesterday revealed its own movie subscription service, which will let customers watch three movies per week for $19.95 a month -- including IMAX and RealD 3D showings. 

...

Popcorn is cinemas sweet spot not movies

This is a companion post to the analysis of the $10 MoviePass announcement, and what that (and other schemes I also discuss) means for the distribution and exhibition industries.

From a business point of view, cinemas are only partly about films. "When we bought [Odeon]," Guy Hands of private equity group Terra Firma famously said, "the management team really believed they were part of the film business. I had the difficult job of explaining to them that they were in the popcorn-selling business." (Oliver Thring, Guardian 2012)

With the emergence of NATIONAL movie passes, not just schemes within individual chains (Curzon and Kineopolis being being two examples), the revenue model of the film industry faces a huge shake-up with a disruption of the traditional models of renting 'prints' and passing some share of ticket revenues back to distributors (depending on the movie).

That hideous diabetes/clot-encouraging popcorn is set to become the main revenue stream for cinemas - movies could become a loss-leader, just as budget airlines seek to make money from flight 'extras' and in-flight sales more than the actual seat purchase - very bad news for distributors.

That process is arguably already here though...

The pic above is from a Guardian article on an American cinema-goer launching a doomed lawsuit against the US cinema chain for charging $8 for a coke. From the same article:

FANDOM UGC Warners go Harry potty over fan fests

I'm struggling to see the logic behind this, there's no obvious loss of revenue and no apparent request for a licensing fee, just a blanket cease and desist legal order to fan fests that are huge promos for the Potter franchise.

Harry rotters: Warner Bros cracks down on Potter fan festivals in US https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/jun/16/harry-potter-warner-bros-wizard-fan-festivals?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger

MICROBUDGET DISTRIBUTION solo site takes no rights

NoBudge: a one-man passion project https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/jun/03/kentucker-audley-nobudge-film-streaming-micro-budget?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger

WT About time for Richard Curtis Danny Boyle comedy

What a waste of a decent director...
It's been confirmed today that Danny Boyle is directing the next Bond, to be distributed outside the US (MGM) by Universal (a change from Sony), but it's thought he'll wrap the Curtis-penned comedy first.

As High Grant has declared he'll never consider another rom-com role, wanting only serious parts, it won't be a new entry in the $billion Grant/Curtis partnership (and surely the involvement of those 2 would have seen BJBaby do much better). Still not seeing any detail on this, but Boyle and Curtis are already prime marketing factors before cast or any possible IP are considered.

http://variety.com/2018/film/news/universal-danny-boyle-richard-curtis-1202713807/

James Bond: Danny Boyle and Daniel Craig confirmed for 007's 25th outing

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/may/25/james-bond-danny-boyle-and-daniel-craig-confirmed-for-007s-25th-outing?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard