11/02/2005

Today sees the release in the UK of two highly anticipated European productions: The Magic Roundabout and The sea Inside [+see also:
trailer
film profile] ten days after their opening in France.
The Magic Roundabout, the UK/French co-production distributed by Pathe in both territories, will have a similar type of wide release in the UK as in France with over 400 prints. According to Alasdair Nicholson from Pathe UK's marketing department, the company had booked around the same number of cinemas for Chicken Run, also produced and distributed by Pathe, which became the highest grossing British animated film of all time with over $46m gross at the UK box office.
“Kids love The Magic Roundabout”, said Nicholson. “We had a London premiere of the film on Sunday 30th January full of kids, and the film played very well”. Although reviews in the UK have been mixed, Pathe is confident about the release, having set-up a major marketing campaign across all media (TV adds, buses, underground, press etc).
For the UK version of the 3D animated feature, the main voice cast includes Sir Ian McKellen (Zebedee), Joanna Lumley (Ermintrude the cow), Jim Broadbent (Brian the bashful snail, Ray Winstone (Soldier Sam) as well as pop stars Robbie Williams (Dougal the dog) and Kylie Minogue (Florence).

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Entertainment Film Distributors , the top independent UK distributor, has planned a wide-release for The Sea Inside with 80-90 prints. An opportunity for the distributor specialized in US movies to test the water on foreign language films in the UK. But the film’s potential looks very bright thanks to its Academy Award nomination in the Best foreign language category and the stunning performance of Javier Bardem, heart-throb in the UK after his appearances in Golden Balls (Jamón Jamón) and Before Night Falls.