From a quick look over the upcoming films I’ve put together a list of suggestions for what we should be looking at as doubles. I’ve tried to put them in order from best to worst (and put a few sub headings in too).
Strong Doubles: Dark Knight Rises: Worth scheduling a third screening in advance? Avengers Assemble: I’m sure we all know what this. Prometheus: Ridley Scott’s latest sci-fi is looking good. Could well be one of the strongest films of term. Pulp Fiction: Consistently one of the most popular films we show in the Autumn. Friday Week 2.
Good Doubles: Brave: The new Pixar film. The Bourne Legacy: No Matt Damon or Paul Greengrass but still looks good and should do well. The Amazing Spiderman: Spiderman reboot. Expendables 2: The greatest action heroes come together for one last time… again! Dark Shadows: Latest Tim Burton and Johnny Depp project. The Dictator: Latest Sacha Baron Cohen comedy. Men in Black 3: Not sure it’ll be great but should be big enough to manage a Sunday double. Snow White and the Huntsman: I’m personally not particularly keen to see it but I think the good trailer and cast should bring people in. Total Recall: I imagine it will be heavily promoted by the time it comes out and the trailer looks good.
I’m not sure: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter: Not sure. Students are probably the right crowd. What do you think? G.I. Joe: Retaliation: Much better cast than the first one. Still not sure it’s double worthy though. Ice Age: Continental Drift: The last Ice Age was on a single but did really well. Rock of Ages: Not my sort of film so I have trouble judging but I think it could get a decent audience.
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*]I think Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter will be a good midnight screening.
*]The last G.I. Joe film had attendances of 21 and 37 on Friday, Week 8 (Autumn 2009), so my preference is for Retaliation to be a single screening.
*]I was planning to return Ice Age to a double screening.
*]I think there are enough stronger films to keep Rock of Ages to a single screening.
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I like your suggestions.
Some more ideas for Sundays:
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*]Moonrise Kingdom: The new Wes Anderson film, opening at Cannes next month
*]Beauty and the Beast: The Disney film is re-released next month
*]Anna Karenina: The new Joe Wright film, based on the novel
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We also need to consider what new films to put in the AllNighter.
I wouldn’t particularly argue strongly for Rock of Ages as it doesn’t look great to me but on the other hand I never understood why Hairspray was so popular.
Moonrise Kingdom and Beauty and the Beast are definitely good calls. I haven’t really heard much about Anna Karenina so I’m not sure about it either way.
I put this comment on another thread but it’s probably more appropriate here:
There won’t be a subtitled film every Thursday, but I intend to schedule five or six such films. Themed Tuesdays may well return in Spring 2013.
Watch this space for a draft schedule.
I’ve taken a quick look over the upcoming films and thought I’d highlight some that I think are worth discussing for single slots. (To clarify, I don’t think all of these should make it onto the schedule but thought they should be highlighted for discussion. With the romantic comedies in particular I really struggle to know what will do well).
Double(?): Dredd : The new Judge Dredd film. A bit of a stretch for the schedule as it’s out a week after the deadline James gave but could do a double I think.
Documentary: Marley: A documentary about Bob Marley. Supposed to be very good.
Foreign: The Raid: Redemption : Supposed to be a really good action film. Empire go on about it quite a lot. Tales of the Night: French film. Visually looks really interesting. Headhunters: Apparently a really good Norwegian crime thriller.
Strippers: Magic Mike: An upstart male stripper is taken under the wing of a more experienced colleagues. :shock (But it’s directed by Steven Soderbergh so we should probably show it). Strippers vs Werewolves : If you like that sort of thing.
Films I couldn’t be bothered to put in category: Albert Nobbs : Picked up several big Oscar nominations. How I Spent My Summer Vacation: Mel Gibsons new film. It’s IMDB rating is pretty high at the moment. The Sweeney : Film of the TV series starring Ra Winston.
No-one’s mentioned the new American Pie film yet. I fully expect it to be rubbish but it seems like it could draw a good crowd. We did six screenings of the first, so I assume that went down well! 111 to the most recent (theatrically-released) one in 2004 (the very first entry in EPOS!) isn’t as great, granted, but I think we could justify at least a single. Or maybe a free-for-freshers film?
I think the third one had 63 across two screenings (I guess you were counting the passes sold instead of just the tickets). I’d seen that it was in the upcoming releases but wasn’t sure it would do well since the string of bad dvd sequels seem to have pretty much killed the franchise. Plus American Pie strikes me as being a bit old for the new freshers (it came out in 1999) so I’m not sure they’re the ideal audience. It should be a bit easier to see how it might do after it’s released in a couple of weeks though.
I’m not sure. It’s done ok but not amazingly at the US box office (things like 21 Jump Street did quite a bit better). I’ll feel a lot better about it if it does ok at the UK box office (although it is going up against the Avengers). Currently I’d put it as a lower end single screening.
Wednesday, Week 3 or Week 4 — probably Week 4. The suggestions page closes on Tuesday, Week 3. I’ll post a draft schedule to this thread next week.
My aim is for the programming meeting to last no longer than one hour.
I think over 3 consecutive showings is an excellent way to show the Dark Knight trilogy.
I, for one, am happy with the films targeted at the female student population. Though these look like the more quality films in this area, were there no ‘big hitters’?
Though these look like the more quality films in this area, were there no ‘big hitters’?