The Backlot Millionaire
Alternative UK Film Chart
Week: March 6-13
Week: March 6-13
(This is a test...) What the nation watched. Viewing figures calculated using cinema admissions, DVD sales and rentals, TV ratings.
2 Freedomland (C5) 1.19m
3 Wallace & Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit (BBC3) 880,000
4 Watchmen (cinema) 648,600
5 Mamma Mia (DVD sale) 300,000 approx
6 Slumdog Millionaire (cinema) 257,818
7 Gran Torino (cinema) 243,221
8 The Young Victoria (cinema) 203,210
9 Hancock (DVD rental) 200,000 approx
10 Bolt (cinema) 195,790
10 Bolt (cinema) 195,790
Forget the overrated Raging Bull (yes, I said it) and the perennial critical chart-topper Citizen Kane, it's The Shawshank Redemption that continues to burnish its credentials as an everyman favourite — what's more, it would appear, a film open to multiple repeat viewings. "Shawshank" won not a single Academy Award, having had the misfortune to be released the same year as both Forrest Gump and Pulp Fiction. But, 15 winters on, it still has the capacity to pull in over seven times more viewers than the current critics' (and Oscar) darling, Slumdog Millionaire, which scrapes in just below Meryl Streep's Abba DVD.
To those in marketing circles, the film's underperformance at the box office, back in 1994, was all down to the poster, which confirms the advertising maxim that you should never make a feature of the rear of someone's head... or, in this case, whole body (see above). The movie has since enjoyed a spectacular second coming on video, DVD and TV, of course — a real grower. Who needs arty cinematography and pork-pie method acting when you've got that timeless winning ingredient, humanity...?
To those in marketing circles, the film's underperformance at the box office, back in 1994, was all down to the poster, which confirms the advertising maxim that you should never make a feature of the rear of someone's head... or, in this case, whole body (see above). The movie has since enjoyed a spectacular second coming on video, DVD and TV, of course — a real grower. Who needs arty cinematography and pork-pie method acting when you've got that timeless winning ingredient, humanity...?
Champs Of The Week
Actors: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman
Director: Frank Darabont
Writers: Frank Darabont from the story by Stephen King
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ReplyDeleteAn ex-cinema distributor writes: I've always said there's way too much emphasis placed on the UK movie charts. The hype machine obscures what films the country is REALLY watching. And all based on box office (i.e. takings) not the no. of units (tickets) sold. Well done!
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