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| Author | Zoe Aresti |
Welcome back to the latest edition of We Love Cinema where we’re highlighting the key titles that are going to be prominent contenders this forthcoming Awards Season. We’re approaching the time of year where these films debut on the awards circuit, feeding nicely into Q4 and beyond, which is the best time of year to reach the elusive ABC1, tech-savvy audience in their droves when the film slate is at its peak.
Last year’s awards winners included The Theory of Everything, for which Eddie Redmayne won the Best Actor Oscar, and grossed £22m against a conservative £5m prediction, whilst The Imitation Game, the story of Alan Turing’s attempts to crack Enigma, replicated this success by taking £16m against its £2m expectations. Other notable winners included the fearsome jazz epic Whiplash and the gloriously irreverent Birdman, and between them, all statuette winners collectively delivered more than double their original estimates (£49m predicted vs. £98m final total), highlighting both the significant appeal of these films and the vast opportunities available for upmarket brands.
1 January sees the release of two expected heavyweights expected to be dining at the top awards tables. First is Joy, David O. Russell’s first major film since the much-lauded American Hustle, bringing back his dream team of Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and Robert de Niro who he previously assembled in the Oscar winning Silver Linings Playbook. A biopic of ‘miracle mop’ creator Joy Mangano, the film tells of her struggles as a single mother raising three children that will be sure to make audiences both laugh and cry.
Hot on its heels the same day is The Danish Girl, from Tom Hooper who previously directed award winners The King’s Speech (2011) and Les Misérables (2013). Eddie Redmayne stars in his first big role since his Oscar winning turn as Stephen Hawking last year, in a biographical drama of Lili Elbe, one of the first known recipients of sexual reassignment surgery. With a knockout cast also including Amber Heard, Ben Whishaw and Matthias Schoenarts, hopes are high that it can emulate the success of Hooper’s previous films.
Other key titles to look out for are Quentin Tarantino’s latest epic The Hateful Eight, which has garnered 12m+ YouTube views since its teaser upload last week, as well as British drama Suffragette and digital odyssey Steve Jobs, which will respectively open and close this year’s London BFI Film Festival.
In the run up to Christmas, Q4 is the time of year when there is a strong spike in both supermarket and retailer spends, with advertisers looking to tap into the consumer’s festive state of mind in innovative, emotional ways. Aside from increased spend to raise awareness of relevant products, the tactical importance of showcasing ‘Christmas creatives’ in cinema has increased and cemented its place within many brand’s media plans. The emotional state of mind cinemagoers are in before they’ve taken their seat shows, coupled with the highest technical specs the big screen offers, shows this is where these adverts will have their biggest impact. This was reflected by the significant investment made by brands last year such as Sainsbury’s, who ran their infamous Christmas creative in both the content and silver spots, while Waitrose and Lidl also ran extensive cinema campaigns to really amplify the message of their seasonal adverts.
To get involved in a whole range of opportunities this year, please contact your DCM rep.
To see the full breakdown of the top ten supermarket and retail spenders from 2014, click here.