After some success in the US, STX Entertainment are launching UK distribution later this year the UK marketplace is very crowded with the studios (Disney, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros, Universal, Sony, Paramount) the mini-majors (eOne and Lionsgate) and then many smaller distributors.
STX Entertainment US plans are wanting to be seen close to the studios but so many companies have tried and failed over the years to be the next studio its 20 years ago since Dreamworks and Polygram launched their US distribution both lasting only a few years.
There are many similarities between STX Entertainment plans and Polygram Filmed Entertainment plans in the 90s to compete directly with studios making studio films and releasing them globally through their global network of distributors.
So many companies have tried to replicate Polygram Filmed Entertainment over the years since but failed will STX do any better?
With the UK, they made a massive statement acquiring Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman but then after Silence flopped for Paramount and Netflix pounced acquiring global rights. The problem is without that one prestigious film what makes STX UK different with their slate of films than the many other independent film distributors that have tried and failed to crack the UK market over the years. Either the companies fold or they get taken over by foreign companies;
1997’s Redbus Film Distribution was taken over in 2001 by Germany company Helkon and then was acquired by Lionsgate in 2005 becoming Lionsgate UK; The Hunger Games franchise 2012-2015 was the series that build a strong foundation for Lionsgate to acquire a wider mix of films.
1999’s Optimum Releasing became Studiocanal UK in 2011 acquired by French company Studiocanal. Optimum/Studiocanal had released a strong steady slate of films but the double hit of The Imitation Game and Paddington in 2014 gave them the foundation to build on but again it’s all about films acquired 2015 was a quiet year apart from Shaun the Sheep and last year was very quiet but of course this year with Paddington 2 everything looks brighter again.
Electric Pictures was acquired by Alliance in 1997 renamed Momentum Pictures was then acquired by eOne in 2012 and merged with their own UK distribution. In 2007 eOne acquired UK distributor Contender Entertainment and thanks to their output deal with Summit released a small film called Twilight which became a five-film franchise that turned eOne from an independent to a mini-major similar to The Lord of the Rings trilogy did for Entertainment Film Distributors in 2001.
But being an independent distributor your dependent on acquiring the right films and having output deals for Entertainment Films it was a long-term deal with New Line. Warner Bros acquired New Line in 1996 but allowed them to still be independent and release their own films but in 2008 Warner Bros merged New Line within the studio and released their films.
STX UK has an interesting debut slate including Wind River, Home Again, Den of Thieves, Adrift and Breathe but now stand out in the already very crowded marketplace what makes their films different and how will they be able to compete with the films from their rivals? STX’s biggest hit to date in the UK was Bad Moms released by Entertainment Films who will also release the sequel A Bad Moms Christmas which is the type of film STX need to attract wide audiences.
What makes STX Entertainment different to the many other independent distributors in the UK today they are backed by Chinese private equity company and similar to when Polygram was setting up their UK operation in 1994 STX Entertainment UK are building up their own dream team from rival distributors headed by former Polygram boss David Kosse. STX Entertainment needs to find their identity or their niche which Polygram did with their strong marketing and their mix of films.
Wind River received positive reviews at Sundance comparing it to Hell or High Water opening the same weekend as it did last year but disappointed at the box office. Wind River also must deal with the little issue of Stephen King’s It which was the most watched trailer of the year. While he starred in Arrival last year Amy Adams was the reason audiences came to see it while similar to roles in Mission Impossible and Avengers films his last lead role was 2014’s underrated Kill the Messenger which was never given the wide release the film deserved.
Home Again starring Reese Witherspoon in her first film since the excellent HBO drama Big Little Lies but her recent films have disappointed at the box office Hot Pursuit, The Good Lie, Wild, This Means War and How Do You Know. Her last non-animation hit was over ten years ago which is disappointing as she gives very watchable performances in most of her films going back to her earliest roles in films including S.F.W, Freeway, and Fear.
Den of Thieves an action film starring Gerald Butler did star in the surprise success of London Has Fallen last year but the long-delayed Geostorm opens in October which is unlikely to generate much interest.
Adrift is possibly the film that could make audiences interested being a human survival drama while have been many fiction films about people being stuck in the middle of the sea the most recent being The Shallows but being nonfiction gives it more power about a regular person who managed to survive being caught in a hurricane alone injured in the middle of the ocean. Surviving on peanut butter and canned food sailed 1,500 miles in 41 days. The film is based on Red Sky in Mourning: A True Story of Love, Loss and Survival by Tami Oldham but its title just makes me think of fiction films like Open Water it needs a stronger non-generic title.
The problem with these films as with so many films the marketplace is so crowded with big budget films the smaller more interesting films are being squeezed in cinemas and not receiving the media coverage they deserve.
20 years ago these films would get a chance to find their audiences but with 10+ films opening each weekend with a third of them opening on 100+ screens means it’s very hard for a film that doesn’t have an inbuilt audience or USP to find an audience. Over 700 films were released last year which was seen as a positive by some but as 20 years ago many industry experts thought 350 was too many why would it be positive to release over 700 films especially as the top 100 films last year took over 85% of the box office which left 600 films fighting over scraps.
Cinema is the home for film but distributors need to be more selective with the films they release and how they distribute them. UK box office has increased year on year but admissions have been flat but if they continue going as they are currently admission might grow for the first time in 14 years this year but will be due to fewer films even though more than ever are being released.
So many companies over the last 25 years have launched UK distributors but so many have failed far too many to mention Guild Films in the 80’s and 90s released so of the biggest action films thanks to their output deals with companies including Carolco but then merged with Pathe in 1996. Vestron Films launched in the 80s as a video company moved into film distribution as so many other companies did releasing a wide range of films they acquired including Dirty Dancing. Was relaunched as First Independent Films made a statement acquiring films including 1996’s White Squall and 1997’s G.I Jane which flopped.
Rank Film Distributors which was launched as General Film Distributors in 1995 and then acquired by J Arthur Rank two years later. He built a massive UK film empire including Odeon Cinemas, Rank Film Laboratories and Pinewood Studios in the 50s they were bigger than most Hollywood studios.
They made many classic films most of them in the 30s-60s in the 70s famous for the Carry-On films but they only made the colour films. In the 80s and 90s, they stopped making films rather acquired films that developed by production companies for the UK and the world.
Similar to independent UK distributors now their foundation in the 80s and early 90s was an output deal with Orion had mixed success their biggest was 1991’s The Silence of the Lambs. In 1993, they had another output deal with Manifesto Pictures (which became Polygram) most of their films had mixed success apart from 1994’s Four Weddings and a Funeral which became the biggest film in the UK.
But in 1997 they sold Rank Films to Carlton who then promised to continue making and releasing films but six months later had closed the distribution their interest was the library. Rank also sold off Odeon Cinemas, Rank Film Laboratories, and Pinewood Studios.
Polygram acquired production companies Working Title Films, Propaganda Films and Interscope Communications for them to release. In the early 90s, the released their films through local distributors as STX did previously but then set up their own UK and international network in 1995 with Trainspotting being one of their first films they released. Setting up US Polygram Films with their first film The Game released in September 1997.
But things started to come apart for Polygram with the new boss at Phillips who wasn’t as interested in films as former bosses denying Polygram’s attempt to buy MGM. Instead, Phillips sold Polygram to Seagram who also then owned Universal Pictures they weren’t interested in Polygram Films and sold their library to MGM and merged the film unit within Universal Pictures which saw Working Title films be released by Universal Pictures.