Click here to view the embedded video.
Last night I had the privilege of attending the opening night of the Director’s Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival. The film being shown was “Benda Bilili” a fantastic documentary about a Congolese band made up of homeless parapelgics who go on to win international acclaim. Before the lights dimmed however the audience was addressed by the head of the Société des réalisateurs de films, the French Director’s Guild which organizes the Cannes sidebar.
After handing filmmaker Agnès Varda a lifetime achievement award, Malik Chibane (at least I believe it was him) turned to the audience with a serious word of caution. He was speaking in French and between what I understood and what was translated by the person standing next to Chibane I figured it was worth repeating here.
Keeping in mind, I’m paraphrasing, Chibane told the audience that “Benda Bilili” was being shown in 35mm and a film projector, which is how films had been shown for the past 100 years. However, this won’t always be the case. Very soon cinemas throughout France will undergo a digital conversion and films will be delivered on hard drives. He warned that such technology will actually decrease the diversity of films being shown in theatres, especially for French films. He stated that small theatres wouldn’t be able to convert to digital cinema, just those showing big blockbuster films.
Then as the film started a short 20 second promo put together by the SFR was shown. Again it was in French so I’m paraphrasing, but effectively the message of the animated spot was that a lack of diversity undermines the movies and that digital cinema threatened French culture. The trailer is embedded at the head of this post.
This lead me to do a little research into Chibane’s statements and the creation of the trailer. It’s not news that certain European territories such as France believe smaller cinemas will be shut out of the digital cinema conversion since they do not show big Hollywood movies. In fact, SFR made three different trailers “dealing with the consequences of the current policy of digitization of cinemas” all of which can be seen on YouTube.
The themes of the other two trailers roughly translate to “the rapid turnover of film prints seriously affects the cinema” and “the hour is grave for the cinema”. The SFR’s statement on the subject both on their website and YouTube channel reads:
Digital cinema prevents the circulation of films and thus their distribution in the long term: it must be paid for by the distributor of a movie and third-party investors. Each screen (or theatre) will choose one or the other of these third-party investors. A distributor that wants to place his film into the national network of cinemas for an extended period of time will be forced to pay several digital cinema fees - one to each of the third-party investors.
Of course, the third-party investors being referred to are integrators such as Arts Alliance or XDC which operate in Europe and the distributors are most likely small, regional distributors. On Sunday afternoon the European Audiovisual Observatory will hold a conference in Cannes titled Digital Cinema Tango to discuss the issue.
There is a slight irony here in that “Benda Bilili” was actually shot on digital video cameras and was transfered to 35mm. That aside, what do you think of Chibane’s comments and what are your thoughts on the matter of digital cinema decreasing the diversity of content being shown in certain territories?
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This past week the digital cinema pipeline into movie theatres in India became a little more narrow - figuratively, not literally or technically. On Thursday Reliance MediaWorks (formerly Adlabs), one of India’s largest entertainment services companies announced a “strategic alliance” with UFO Moviez, a company billed as the world’s largest digital cinema network in the press release.
This is the kind of business news that usually doesn’t make a huge impact whether in trade papers or in the mainstream media. However, it’s actually a significant announcement. What it means is that a most digital content mastering being done for the Indian market will now be conducted under one roof. Besides being the film lab which handles 80% of all Bollywood releases, RMW is also home to one of India’s largest digital intermediate facilities. Previous digital mastering for pan-Indian films was split between the two companies with RMW handling JPEG200 DCI content and UFO taking care of non-DCI e-cinema content.
Real Image is another company offering digital mastering in India, handling both d-cinema and e-cinema to support the sale of its servers for both markets. What the alliance between RMW and UFO does is swing the balance of digital mastering work squarely in RMW’s favor while leaving a question mark over the future of Real Image’s mastering efforts.
Under the agreement UFO will set up an additional encoding and encryption facility on RMW’s premises and effectively turn over the work to their new partner. Producers and distributors will work directly with RMW moving forward. Meanwhile, UFO will shift to being more of a finance, funding and licence vehicle for e-cinema installations, having recently also expanded into content rights with the cinema distribution deal for the wildly succesfull third annual Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket league currently screening in multiplexes all over India.
While most, if not all, of the content UFO sends through its satellite based digital cinema network may be high-def e-cinema, it is distributed to the over 1,800 screens throughout India. RMW also has experience operating and programming movie theatres, being the owner of Big Cinemas, India’s largest theatre chain consisting of more than 250 screens in 78 cities throughout the country. The pact will allow both companies to offer a wider range of programming and enable distributors to release titles on more screens simultaneously in an effort to increase box office revenues.
Commenting on the deal, Anil Arjun, RMW’s chief executive officer stated:
“By combining our unique strengths, Reliance MediaWorks and UFO Moviez will accelerate the creation of a secure digital ecosystem that facilitates a wider reach for digital distribution of movies, delivering to movie consumers a superior experience, more content, with greater reliability and lower costs. That’s where we can make a real difference.”
One could easily read into what Mr. Arjun is saying here, especially with his use of the word “secure”, to see why the move makes sense for both companies. Last year an Indian piracy ring was unearthed when the theft of a pre-release copy of the film “What’s Your Rashee?” was traced back to the vice president of technology at UFO. Films were allegedly being stolen by the executive while they were being mastered at UFO’s facility. An employee at RMW also turned out to have links to the piracy ring, however it was discovered no films had ever made their way out of RMW, presumably because of the company’s stronger security measures.
Thus it’s easy to see why UFO might have an interest in exiting this part of their business (which may only break-even for them) and turn it over to a company like RMW. After all, mastering is a core business for RMW, having already dominated the market for DCI-grade mastering for Hindi-films as well as doing work for Hollywood studios active in India such as Warner Bros and Twentieth Century Fox.
RMW will now wind up handling smaller, regional films, including titles from South India where Chennai-based Real Image has predominantly been a strong player. Time will tell whether the new relationship between RMW and UFO will place any pressure on Real Image to exit the content mastering business and focus on manufacturing and selling digital content servers (Qube) and audio equipment. Given that Real Image has their own JPEG encoder and a license in India for DTS 5.1 surround sound on 35mm films, they are likely to be in the mastering game for some time to come.
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Norway’s FILM & KINO has announced that it has signed virtual print fee (VPF) agreements with five out of six studios (discussions with Sony Pictures still on-going), thus paving the way to make it the first country to switch over all of its cinemas to digital in a government-led effort. Announcement in Norwegian here and press release in English here. From the latter:
Film & Kino, the Norwegian interest organization for cinemas, announces the world’s first non-commercial complete national digital roll out with agreements with Twentieth Century Fox, United International Pictures (the local distributor for Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures in Norway), Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International, and Warner Bros. Pictures International.
Film & Kino has served the Norwegian cinema industry for over 90 years, and is proud to announce multiple studio agreements in Norway. This complete digital roll-out will transform all of Norway’s cinemas, big and small, to modern DCI-compliant digital cinema houses. The roll-out will start in late 2009 after the completion of public tenders for the procurement of equipment and services required for the digitization process.
Next up is a tender process for different regions and operators in Norway. No one company or consortium is expected to win all the tenders, which are likely to attract interest from the likes of Arts Alliance Media and Unique Cinema Solutions (operators of the Nordic Digital Alliance and NORDIC Project that set the scene for the conversion), as well as XDC and others. The recent TI 4K announcement is not expected to slow the Norwegian conversion process as Norway has been on the forefront of installing Sony SXRD 4K projectors. Having been the first country to switch over all of its cinema advertising to digital, Norway looks set to do the same for feature films in cinemas.
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Scrabble Entertainment has announced virtual print fee (VPF) deals with five Hollywood studios (”Hello Scott from SPE, in the back.”) to roll out digital cinema in India. This may be the last notable VPF deal for some time, if not for ever.
Scrabble has signed up Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox, plus Paramount and Universal, with only Sony Pictures yet to come on board. At the press conference in Las Vegas on the second day of ShoWest 2009, three of the studio representatives joined Scrabble’s CEO Ranjit Thakur on stage to praise his efforts. Tom Molter from Warner Bros said that WB has supplied more digital cinema titles internationally than any other studio (definitely true for India) and was looking forwards to doing more of this with Scrabble. Julian Levin from Fox praised Ranjit’s determination and effort, acknowledging that negotiating with the Hollywood studios is a “very difficult and complicated process.” Lastly Jason Brenek from Disney was happy that Scrabble digital cinema roll-out would include 3D installations, understandable given Disney’s 17 3D titles over the coming three years. Jack Klein from Christie was also up on stage. Christie is the 2K digital cinema projector supplier of choice for Scrabble, but what is not discussed is that Christie is said to have helped behind the scenes to facilitate the VPF deals for Scrabble. Universal and Paramount were not on stage, though they had signed up as well (Paramount’s logo was on the banners, though Universal’s was missing), though this may be due to the fact that both are represented jointly in India by the (elsewhere largely defunct) UIP, with Paramount branding, in India, meaning that there is some untangling to be done still.
Screen International covered the agreement:
Scrabble has signed contracts with Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Bros, Walt Disney Studios and Paramount Pictures that become effective on April 1, and the company is in the process of finalising deal points in the agreement with Universal Pictures. The agreements are based on the self financing virtual print fees model, which is essentially a pay-per-use or booking system.
Scrabble, the sub-continent’s only company whose operations comply with the standards set by Hollywood’s Digital Cinemas Initiative, has deployed 80 digital screens to date within India and plans to instal more than 500 over the next three years.
According to Scrabble, Hollywood collections currently account for less than 10% of overall take from the multiplexes in India’s top eight markets, which itself comprises 75% of total Indian box office.
It is no surprise that Hollywood hopes that digital cinema will be the Trojan horse that will help them increase their market share from a paltry five to ten per cent to, if not levels seen elsewhere in the world, at least double that.
So why is this possibly the last significant VPF deal? Once upon a time VPFs were the Great White Whale, to be hunted across the seas and stories of its conquest to be told to grandchildren and scars from the battles to win it over proudly displayed. Those days are gone. Today VPFs are almost routine.
The reason is that the studios have by now done enough of them, both for domestic (US) and international, to know how they will be structures, what the general price should be and how they will be implemented. One you have the cookie cutter, you just adjust the ingredients slightly depending on the third party entity and territory. More importantly, once a price has been agreed with one digital cinema entity, nobody else should hope to be able to negotiate a better price. The original AccessIT Phase One was as good as it got, and now digital cinema integrators are having to make more with less.
This is not to say that third party entities are not having to work hard to get VPFs signed these days or that studios sprinkle them like confetti on all a sundry. But now it is a battle over an ever-shrinking piece of cake. So instead of focusing of VPFs, here is what to look out for instead.
DCIP. The US three-exhibitor giant is still the 800lb gorilla in the room and when it moves, the rest of the industry will have to move as well. There are signs that it could be imminent, though the recent Sony-AMC announcement indicates that it can’t come soon enough, at least for one of the three exhibitor members. DCIP already has most of the VPFs in place. Now it just needs the financing, which sources tell me is very, very close.
Direct-to-exhibitor-financing. Paramount’s lead is about to be followed by at least two other studios, if rumours in the industry are to be believed. Warner Bros. name comes up most frequently in such speculation, with the names of Fox and Disney also mentioned. The last two have obvious interest in making this happen (Avatar and 3D respectively), though the mention of Warner Bros is interesting, given that historically it is the studio that alongside SPE has been slowest to sign VPF deals.
The exit of third party integrators. The window of opportunity may have closed for some, many or all of the third party integrators. They could end up leaving the business altogether or scaling back their involvement - as Technicolor is said to be doing, choosing to focus on film services once again.
Studio compromises. This is something that everyone knows will happen in a number of fields related to digital cinema, but nobody wants to do it or even discuss it before the roll-out proper has started. This will primarily be related to second tier theatres and it was glimpsed in the WPF (weekly print fee) that was part of Paramount’s contract. However, compromises may also take place on the technology front, ranging from small scale things (modems for KDMs, to more fundamental issues).
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RealD's Disposable 3D Glasses
Late last week I picked up on a rumor that was circulating about European exhibitors. Apparently, they are rejecting digital 3D versions of DreamWorks Animation’s “Monsters vs. Aliens” in lieu of 2D digital and 35mm prints as a response to being told that distributors will not pick up the tab for 3D glasses. The film opens internationally on March 27th.
Disposable polarized 3D glasses cost between 50 and 99 cents (USD) and are required to view digital 3D movies shown using systems manufactured by RealD and Masterimage. “Active glasses”, which operate using LCD lenses that flicker open and closed at the shutter rate of the projector, are reusable and cost upwards of USD $$25 to $30. Such glasses are necessary to view 3D films shown using XpanD technology. Reusable glasses for Dolby’s color wheel system cost USD $23. More than likely the dispute is over disposable glasses rather than reusable glasses since it is generally accepted that the exhibitor will be responsible for the latter.
In North America it has become a somewhat common practice for the distributor of a 3D film to pay for disposable glasses in part or entirely. This may not last however since distribution chiefs such as Mark Christiansen of Paramount Pictures have said they are determining whether they will be reimbursing an exhibitor for the cost of disposable glasses on a film by film basis.
The theatre owners that reported the unofficial boycott of “Monsters vs. Aliens” in 3D were from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and a few Scandinavian countries. Equipment manufacturers and the few dealers I spoke with confirmed the story, and were somewhat frustrated as they believe such issues will hold up the rollout of digital cinema in Europe. When contacted about the issue, representatives at Paramount Pictures in Los Angeles said that local distributors in each territory set the policy for how 3D glasses will be handled and weren’t sure what the ruling was on “Monsters vs. Aliens”. Since a film can have different distributors from one country to the next, it makes sense that a U.S. distributor may not have control over what a distributor does in Europe. . . or anywhere else for that matter.
Of course, the decision not to pay for 3D glasses did not come as a shock to some European exhibitors, especially those who have been reviewing virtual print fee agreements. “I have always been a little bit suspicious of this since nobody is willing to put in a contract that studios are willing to pay for it. We believe that is the way they are going,” said V.J. Maury, CEO of Palace Cinemas, based in Central Europe, when asked about the issue.
Palace uses both RealD and Masterimage and thus deals with disposable glasses. However the chain has managed to work out their own glasses recycling program. “We have adopted a position where it’s just not going to be that way and we are working toward a reusable glasses model. It’s a throw away that can be used many times. It just makes sense. There is no point to waste that much plastic.”
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Central Europe will soon be able to experience 3D digital releases the way filmmakers had intended thanks to Palace Cinemas. Tomorrow the exhibitor will announce they will be adding twelve 3D digital screens to their circuit just in time for Dreamworks Animation’s “Monsters vs. Aliens” to premiere on March 26th.
Palace, which is the largest exhibitor in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, will install three screens in Prague, two screens in Brno, two in Bratislava and an additional five in Budapest, where the company is headquartered. The news is a bit of a coup for Masterimage. The Korean company’s 3D technology has been selected for 11 of the installations. Palace, which already has one RealD system, will install an additional RealD screen at West End, one of their premiere venues in Budapest. Recently RealD and Dolby have stolen the spotlight when it comes to making announcments about new 3D installations.
“We like Masterimage, said Palace CEO V.J. Maury of why they chose the technology. “It’s a combination of great 3D on the screen and the right price. And we wouldn’t add another RealD screen at West End if it were not for its excellent 3D picture.”
That Palace has chosen to install Masterimage may speak to the license fees and revenue sharing business models of other systems. There have been some low grade mumblings by some exhibitors about not wanting to share any portion of box office revenue with 3D technology companies, though for certain exhibitors it provides an affordable opportunity to install 3D technology.
The rest of the kit will include Barco projectors and XDC servers and be installed by Film-Ton-Technik (FTT). What’s noteworthy here is that Palace has chosen XDC servers, though have not yet chosen them as a digital cinema integrator. However, Maury says the integration options is still on the table. “We are sort of doing this as a test with XDC in hopes of moving towards a VPF deal,” he explained. “They have given us a deal because we are at such an advanced stage of the discussions. We wanted to meet our 3D goals as well as working with XDC.”
If all goes according to plan, Maury hopes to convert Palace entirely to digital - ideally by the end of the year. He admits that the number of 3D releases hitting theatres this year was definitely part of the reason Palace chose to install additional screens with the technology. “We believe there is a limited window here of being able to take advantage of the incremental revenues of 3D,” he said. “I just don’t think it’s going to last. If 3D becomes commonplace than the ticket prices aren’t going to stay much higher than the regular ticket prices.”
Maury will be celebrating the tenth anniversary of Palace Cinemas at ShoWest in Las Vegas in two weeks with several key members of his team including CFO David Jelinek(CFO), David Horacek (Czech Republic Manager), Andrea Baisova (Slovakia Manager), Andrea Lovasz (Hungary Manager) Mark Waldman (Tech Manager) and Greg Bridle (IT Manager).
Palace Cinemas Theatres
| Country | Theatre | City | Screens | 3D Screens | 3D System |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CZ | Park Hostivar | Prague | 8 | - | - |
| CZ | Slovansky Dum | Prague | 10 | 1 | Masterimage |
| CZ | Novy Smichov | Prague | 12 | 1 | Masterimage |
| CZ | Letnany | Prague | 8 | 1 | Masterimage |
| CZ | Olympia | Brno | 10 | 1 | Masterimage |
| CZ | Velky Spalicek | Brno | 7 | 1 | Masterimage |
| SK | Aupark | Bratislava | 12 | 1 | Masterimage |
| SK | Polus | Bratislava | 8 | 1 | Masterimage |
| HU | MOMPark | Budapest | 9 | 1 | Masterimage |
| HU | West End | Budapest | 14 | 2 | RealD |
| HU | Campona | Budapest | 11 | 1 | Masterimage |
| HU | Mammut | Budapest | 13 | 1 | Masterimage |
| HU | Dunaplaza | Budapest | 7 | - | - |
| HU | Lurdy haz | Budapest | 10 | 1 | Masterimage |
| HU | Polus | Budapest | 6 | - | - |
| HU | Eurocenter | Budapest | 7 | - | - |
| HU | Eurocenter | Budapest | 7 | - | - |
| HU | Kossuth4 | Budapest | 4 | - | - |
| HU | Nyireghyaza | Nyiregyhaza | 6 | - | - |
| HU | Kaposvar | Kaposvar | 4 | - | - |
| HU | Tatabanya | Tatabanya | 4 | - | - |
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Digital 3D provider RealD was bagged three of the top three UK exhibitors with the announcement that Vue will be converting 200 screens using RealD’s solution. This follows hot on the heels of #1 exhibitor Odeon/UCI’s deal for 500 screens and #2 exhibitor Cineworld’s deal to convert 30 of its 73 sites. From article in THR.com:
Vue Entertainment, the U.K.’s third-largest theater operator, is turning to 3-D technology, striking a deal with RealD to add 200 screens equipped by the 3-D specialist.
Vue and RealD said Monday that the rollout of RealD 3-D-enabled screens already has begun, with an installation at Vue’s flagship location in the British capital, Leicester Square.
“RealD 3-D is the market-leading choice for its remarkable track record of providing a superior viewing experience, something we can’t wait to bring to our many locations across the U.K.,” Vue CEO Tim Richards said.
Between these three UK exhibitors RealD will have at least 800 screens, although some are likely to be in the Republic of Ireland and through UCI also on continental Europe. Although we don’t have the numbers readily available to us (Screen Digest will no doubt be coming out with them soon), it would seem that RealD has the highest penetration rate of any major market in the UK, even higher than US, where Dolby 3D is making significant inroads. With some exceptions, however, continental Europe is resisting the charms of RealD.
Next up, expect an announcement that RealD has plans for 1,000 screens locked up for the UK and Ireland in time for the summer slew of 3D releases, not to mention Avatar by year end.
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The UK’s largest exhibitor Odeon (formed through the merger with UCI) has selected Real Image’s Qube server and projectors from NEC to extend the company’s digital cinema and (particularly) digital 3D reach.
From the Qube press release:
Odeon and UCI Cinemas Choose Qube Servers Qube XP-D servers chosen in 111 screen 3D digital cinema rollout in Europe
The Qube XP-D digital cinema server has been chosen by ODEON and UCI Cinemas – Europe’s largest cinema operators – to be a part of their current 111 screen digitization plan across Europe.
Already playing Disney’s “Bolt” in digital 3D in Portugal for several weeks, Qube has recently commenced commercial digital 3D screenings across the UK with “My Bloody Valentine”.
The digitization plan of ODEON and UCI Cinemas is in response to the significant number of digital 3D productions scheduled for release from 2009, ensuring that the audiences across Europe can enjoy the latest films in state-of-the-art cinema technology.
Unlike the Qube press release, the NEC press release does not go into details on the numbers, but talks about a ‘multi-million’ contract (but is it in pounds? dollars? euros? rupees?):
NEC Display Solutions has announced that its digital projectors are to be rolled out by ODEON – Europe’s largest cinema group – for a string of forthcoming 3D Hollywood blockbusters. The ODEON Group currently has 200 cinemas and over 1,800 screens across the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy and Portugal. It is the largest cinema chain in the world outside of North America.
Following extensive two year trials at ODEON Hatfield (Hertfordshire), where NEC projectors were bench-marked for reliability and quality, NEC’s digital NC1600s are to be rolled out to its cinemas. The projectors will enable the cinema giant to screen 3D movies - such as Disney’s Bolt and the forthcoming Monsters Vs Aliens – for a spectacular experience that puts the audience right at the heart of the action.
The NEC projectors and Qube servers will have to play nicely with the existing Christie projectors and Doremi servers that Odeon already has installed as a result of the exhibitor’s participation in the UK Film Council’s Digital Screen Network. It will be interesting to see if the cinema chain pushes for a theatre management system (TMS) that works across servers from different manufacturers. The announcement comes not long after rival UK exhibitor Cineworld announced its digital 3D plans, which involved Doremi servers and NEC projectors.
While this is good news for the equipment vendors, it seems like yet another side swipe at third party integrators such as Arts Alliance, that had been equipping both Odeon and Cineworld for the DSN, and in the process managed to convince the exhibitors to go it alone. While it is well known that Odeon et al. have been trying to negotiate their own VPF deal with the Hollywood studios, the recent announcement by Paramount that it will pay VPFs directly to exhibitors (albeit only in North America for now) is likely to have further encouraged them.
UPDATE - February 15, 2009: The systems being installed at Odeon/UCI are comprised of an NEC projector paired with either a Doremi (for some existing installations) or Qube server. RealD is the 3D system being used, per the announcement of a 500 screen deal back in October of 2007. (Which goes to show you how long the digital cinema roll out is taking and why some studios with 3D releases are getting a little nervous). All of the equipment is being installed by Sound Associates and housed in a modified version of the their DigiBase racks.
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These days, with the global financial meltdown in full swing, any announcement about a rollout of digital cinema installations is big news. Just ask Arts Alliance Media. The U.K. based integrator had a press release picked up by several trade publications that announced an agreement to install and support d-cinema equipment in 20 independently run theatres in the Netherlands. AAM negotiated the deal with Amsterdam Booking Company, a film buying firm which represents the theatres.
While the agreement only covers 68 screens, or 1o% of the screens in the Netherlands, it’s notable for being the first rollout of digital cinema kit in Holland to be funded by virtual print fees provided by the major Hollywood studios. Until now, d-cinema installations in the Netherlands have been one-offs to facilitate 3D releases. This fact didn’t escape ABC’s owner Paul Visser when he provided a quote for the press release about the deal:
“We see clearly what the future of cinema is going to be – digital, 3-D and live events. AAM is the best partner to make that happen and enable us to be the first widespread movers in the Netherlands.”
According to Howard Kiedaisch, AAM’s chief executive officer, the agreement with ABC is important because it proves that any theatre can make the conversion to digital regardless of size. He said, “. . .having ABC on board proves that our program works for independents as well as big chains.”
Over the last year there has been a lot of talk throughout industry circles over whether the VPF model would actually work for European exhibitors, especially given the differences from the United States in release patterns, length of run and severe market segmentation when it comes to box office revenue. The industry will certainly keep on eye on whether the deal winds up working as planned for all parties involved. . . and that includes the studios.
The announcement also allows AAM to quiet the back room whisperings that the integrator was short of money to rollout digital cinema installations. In the latter half of 2008, when AAM began converting France’s 400-screen Circuit George Raymond to digital and the world tightened it’s economic belt as banks stopped lending, there were rumors the integrator was having trouble coming up with the financing. Of course, that was an easy rumor to start in the fourth quarter of 2008 given that nobody in any industry seemed to be able to find money. Either way, rumor or truth, it doesn’t seem to matter now. AAM managed to raise EUR €43 million in December of last year and they appear to be quite serious about getting the d-cinema gear rolled out for ABC post haste.
Before the ink could dry on their press release AAM began installing digital cinema equipment in cities such as Heerlen, Schagen, Spijkenisse, Venray, Weert and Zutphen. (For a tongue twisting exercise native English speakers should speak those names aloud five consecutive times). AAM is just in time for the February 11th 3D release of “Bolt” and no doubt is feeling the pressure of the upwards of 9 other 3D releases which will hit theatres throughout 2009.
Meanwhile, AAM is still in the middle of rollout out the remainder of CGR Cinemas and is presently running over 420 d-cinema installations throughout Europe including in the UK,France, Spain and Norway.
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Danny Boyle at the premiere of "Slumdog Millionaire" in India (EPA/STR)
Less than 24-hours after “Slumdog Millionaire” picked up 10 Oscar nominations on Thursday, filmmaker Danny Boyle’s rags-to-riches movie about a teenage boy from the slums of Mumbai opened on Friday in India stirring up a bit of resentment and controversy. In fact, rather than being greeted by long lines of moviegoers, according to The Times of India the release of the film caused a small riot at the Inox Multiplex in Panaji.
As a story in the Los Angeles Times details, some in India are dismayed over what they see as the stereotypical portrayal of their country as filled with corruption and impoverished throngs. Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS), a pro-Hindu group, petitioned the government to ban or censor “Slumdog Millionaire” stating that the movie would upset the religious values of millions of Indians due to references of Hindu deities and a misrepresentation of the Lord Ram. Then on Friday, a large group of Shiv Sena activists vandalized the only multiplex in Panaji (the capital of the Indian state of Goa) when theatre managers would not cancel showings of the film.Shiv Sena is one of India’s more boisterous political parties and during the melee they lived up to their reputation as a militant right-wing group when members threw rocks at the theatres’ windows, tore down posters and vandalized the multiplex. Managers at the theatre had to call in police to quell the mild uprising who in turn carted off 12 Shiv Sena activists. While all of this was taking place, HJS protested outside the theatre.
Some of the Shiv Sena activists present during the altercation told journalists they believe the very name of the film is degrading. They claim Mumbai’s impoverished citizens do not want their neighborhoods referred to as slums, nor wish to be referred to as dogs.
Much like political and religious protests against controversial films in other countries, Shiv Sena’s actions are only serving to provide “Slumdog Millionaire” with more exposure. The movie has already made more then USD $50 million worldwide and is being hailed by some in the country as the most successful Indian film of all time. Box office prospects in India, where the film was shot, remain positive, however The Economic Times is reporting that ticket sales for the English language version of “Slumdog Millionaire” are off by about 20% due to rampant piracy. Because of the overwhelming interest in the film, and with a two-month window between the film’s U.S. and Indian release dates, pirated copies of the movie made their way into the country and could be found on the Internet as well as the streets of major cities such as Mumbai. One cable station reportedly even went so far as to air the English version of the film before it officially opened in theatres.
Despite all the protests and political rhetoric being thrown at the film in India, it would have been interesting to see how loud the outcry and accusations of racial prejudice would have been by those same activist groups had the Academy overlooked “Slumdog Millionaire” when announcing its nominations on Thursday.
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