05/07/2013 - Film first ever to release together in cinemas, on free TV, on DVD and on Video-on-Demand on the same day

Film4, Picturehouse Entertainment, 4DVD and Film4 Channel have partnered to release A Field In England [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ben Wheatley
film profile] by Ben Wheatley simultaneously in nationwide cinemas, on free TV, on DVD and on Video-on-Demand on the same day, July 5, making it the first ever film to have a same day release on these platforms. Artificial Eye had teamed with Sky Box Office to release Todd Solontz’s Life During Wartime across platforms and the company had also done a multi-platform simultaneous release for Aki Kaurismäki’s film Le Havre [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Aki Kaurismäki
film profile], but those releases didn’t include DVD. The BFI Distribution Fund New Models strand, which encourages different release models, is supporting a Field In England’s distribution.

The film is set during the English Civil War where deserters fleeing from a raging battle through an overgrown field are captured by people who force them to aid them in their search to find a hidden treasure that they believe is buried in the field. The cast includes Michael Smiley, Julian Barratt and Reece Shearsmith.

Wheatley said, “I’ve always been interested in that time period and the idea that it was an attempt by the people to kill the King – or effectively kill God. It’s radical thought and lots of people were radicalized at that moment in history. It was also a time when “magic” became “science”, where paganism and Christianity where confused, so it felt like a rich kind of magical world where any possibility could happen.”

Film4 and Rook Films produced, Picturehouse Entertainment is releasing theatrically, 4DVD the DVD release and Film4 Channel the television premiere.