Author: Alton Williams

Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn makes a marvellous return to the Official Film Chart, as it claims the Number 1 spot for the first time following its release on disc formats.

Originally peaking at Number 3 on its digital download release in April, the film stars Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn and chronicles the character’s adventures after splitting up with the Joker.

Harley teams up with superheroes Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and tough cop Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez) to save a young girl being targeted by nefarious crime lord Roman Sionis/The Black Mask (Ewan McGregor).

Dolittle rebounds one place to Number 2, just ahead of 1917 at Number 3. The Personal History of David Copperfield enters the Top 10 for the first time, flying 24 places to Number 4. Set in the 1840s, this modernistic adaptation of Charles Dickens’ semi-autobiographical classic was written & directed by Armando Ianucci and stars Dev Patel as the eponymous character.

Last week’s Number 1 Sonic the Hedgehog drops to Number 5, edging ahead of Bad Boys for Life which hangs on to Number 6 for another week. Animated adventure Onward is down three to Number 7 as Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker returns to the Top 10 at Number 8.

The Call of the Wild is back in the chart at Number 9 following its release on disc, and finally Jumanji: The Next Level holds on to spend its twelfth consecutive week in the Top 10, falling three to Number 10.

This week’s online show features a preview of supernatural horror Fantasy Island, available to Download & Keep from June 29.

The Official Film Chart Top 10 – 24^th June 2020

LW	Pos	Title	Label
RE	1	BIRDS OF PREY AND THE FANTABULOUS	WARNER HOME VIDEO
3	2	DOLITTLE	UNIVERSAL PICTURES
2	3	1917	ENTERTAINMENT ONE
28	4	PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD	LIONSGATE
1	5	SONIC THE HEDGEHOG	PARAMOUNT
6	6	BAD BOYS FOR LIFE	SONY PICTURES HE
4	7	ONWARD	WALT DISNEY
11	8	STAR WARS IX: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER	WALT DISNEY
RE	9	THE CALL OF THE WILD	WALT DISNEY
7	10	JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL	SONY PICTURES HE

© Official Charts Company 2020

VIEW THE FULL TOP 40 – https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/film-chart/

David Bowie stars in Nagisa Oshima’s 1983 Palme d’Or-nominated portrait of resilience, pride, friendship and obsession among four very different men confined in the stifling jungle heat of a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in Java during World War II.

Eureka Entertainment to release BUSTER KEATON: 3 FILMS (Volume 3), a further collection of unparalleled films from the silent comedy genius. Presented for the first time on Blu-ray in the UK, from brand new restorations, as part of The Masters of Cinema Series. The Limited Edition Three Disc Box Set (3000 copies ONLY) will be available from 24 August 2020.

“Dads” is a heartfelt and humorous documentary that celebrates the joys and challenges of parenting in today’s world. Featuring six extraordinary fathers from across the globe, this film offers a firsthand glimpse into the trials and tribulations of modern-day parenting through revealing interviews, rare home-movie footage, viral videos, and hilarious and thoughtful testimonials from some of Hollywood’s funniest celebrities, including Judd Apatow, Jimmy Fallon, Neil Patrick Harris, Ron Howard, Ken Jeong, Jimmy Kimmel, Hasan Minaj, Conan O’Brien, Patton Oswalt, Will Smith and more. Making her feature directorial debut, Bryce Dallas Howard also offers an intimate look at the dads in her own family, including remarkable interviews with her late grandfather Rance, her father Ron and her brother Reed.

THE BIG UGLY stars Vinnie Jones (Snatch, Gone in 60 Seconds), Ron Perlman (Hellboy, Sons of Anarchy), and Malcolm McDowell(A Clockwork Orange, Halloween). The film is written, directed, and produced by Scott Wiper (The Condemned) with Vinnie Jones also serving as producer. Also starring Nicholas Braun (Succession, How To Be Single), Leven Rambin (The Hunger Games, Percy Jackson: Seas of Monsters), Bruce McGill (Lincoln, National Lampoon’s Animal House), Lenora Crichlow (Fast Girls, Deception) and Joelle Carter (Justified, High Fidelity).

From writer/director Christopher Wells, comes The Luring – a terrifying new motion picture experience coming this summer from Wild Eye Releasing!

The Doom Patrol’s Jon Briddell stars in The Departure, a story of loyalty and lust, available On Demand June 12.

Directed and produced by the brother and sister team of Anthony and Claire Bueno, CLEANIN’ UP THE TOWN: Remembering Ghostbusters is the definitive retrospective documentary that charts the making of the original 1984 Ghostbusters and pays a fitting tribute to the whole creative team behind today’s global phenomenon.  Ir’s released in UK on Blu-Ray on 22 June, and airs in US on Crackle TV on 18th June.

Down deep in the Mississippi Delta lies an oasis of grit and glitter in a rough patch of human existence where beauty can be hard to find. This southern-fried, hour-long drama tells the kaleidoscopic story of a little-strip-club-that-could and the big characters who come through its doors – the hopeful, the lost, the broken, the ballers, the beautiful, and the damned. Trap music meets film noir in this lyrical and atmospheric series that dares to ask what happens when small-town folk dream beyond the boundaries of the Piggly Wiggly and the pawnshop.

Two couples on an oceanside getaway grow suspicious that the host of their seemingly perfect rental house may be spying on them. Before long, what should have been a celebratory weekend trip turns into something far more sinister, as well-kept secrets are exposed and the four old friends come to see each other in a whole new light. Alison Brie, Dan Stevens, Jeremy Allen White, and Sheila Vand star in this unnerving and sophisticated debut thriller from Dave Franco (NEIGHBORS, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK, THE DISASTER ARTIST). 

Haohao Yan’s semi-autobiographical short The Speech focuses on three young girls during the SARS outbreak in China in 2003. This extraordinary short, which was selected of the CAA Moebius Showcase 2020 in May, is also in competition for the Best of the Fest Award and the Best U.S Student Short Award at Palm Springs International ShortFest, which will be screening online in June.

Tombola analysed 306 famous actors from our favourite British and Australian soaps to reveal which ones went on to make it big in Hollywood. https://www.tombola.co.uk/pages/from-soap-to-silver-screen

Gotta go fast! Sonic The Hedgehog speeds right to the top of the Official Film Chart following his arrival on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K UHD as Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz) teams up with his new human friend Tom (James Marsden) to defend earth from the nefarious Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey). The film debuted at Number 3 back in April when it was released on digital download early due to the COVID-19 crisis – just over a month after its cinematic release. This week it rockets up 36 places after its release on physical formats.

Another film which saw an early home release, Bloodshot re-enters the chart at Number 5.

Bloodshot, which sees Vin Diesel star as the Valiant Comics character of the same name, was made available to Download & Keep in the final week of March, only two weeks after its debut in cinemas, and originally debuted at Number 4.

Meanwhile, 1917 rebounds to Number 2, last week’s Number 1 Dolittle drops to Number 3, and Onward is down to 4. Previous Number 1 Bad Boys For Life is at 6, while Jumanji: The Next Level claims another big week on the chart at Number 7.

Little Women slides to 8, Frozen 2 hangs in there at Number 9 and the star-studded movie adaptation of Cats tumbles four spots to Number 10.

This week’s Official Film Chart features a sneak preview of Mark Ruffalo in legal thriller Dark Waters, which details the case against the chemical manufacturing corporation DuPont after they contaminated a town with unregulated chemicals. The title is available to Download and Keep from June 22.

The Official Film Chart Top 10 – 17^th June 2020

LW	Pos	Title	Label
37	1	SONIC THE HEDGEHOG	PARAMOUNT
3	2	1917	ENTERTAINMENT ONE
1	3	DOLITTLE	UNIVERSAL PICTURES
2	4	ONWARD	WALT DISNEY
RE	5	BLOODSHOT	SONY PICTURES HE
5	6	BAD BOYS FOR LIFE	SONY PICTURES HE
10	7	JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL	SONY PICTURES HE
7	8	LITTLE WOMEN (2019)	SONY PICTURES HE
8	9	FROZEN 2	WALT DISNEY
6	10	CATS	UNIVERSAL PICTURES

© Official Charts Company 2020

VIEW THE FULL TOP 40 – https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/film-chart/

Femme Regard Productions is a two-woman-led production company founded by Carolina Alvarez and Tessa Markle. Femme Regard is derived from the French phrase “regard féminin” which translates to “female gaze.” It was coined in response to the film theorist Laura Mulvey’s “male gaze,” a term used to represent both the gaze of the viewer, as well as the creator.

These two women recognized that the majority of mainstream film, both classical and modern, tend to skew the point-of-view, objectification of, and society’s roles for women. The mission of Femme Regard is to not only reinvent stereotypical female roles in film, but also to help create opportunities for women in front of and behind the camera. 

Founded in January 2018, almost a year after working on their first project, a western, with no formal training in film production, they realized that making films is a long journey of dedication, passion, planning, and perseverance. They found it difficult to articulate to friends and family what the journey was really like when they didn’t yet have any finished footage to show off. That’s when the idea for Femme Regard Podcast came to mind.

A way for them to not only share their journey of producing but to connect with a larger audience, especially those who are trying to achieve the same thing. Femme Regard Podast is a mix of interviews with industry professional guests who share their journey and touch on specific aspects of the filmmaking world, as well as episodes featuring only the hosts as they share their journey and lessons that they have learned. That way, the listeners are not only getting to hear from the hosts, but learn from multiple guests with years of experience in the field.

Tessa and Carolina met Mike Cassentini from The Network Studios in Culver City, CA who was pivotal in helping them begin podcasting. What started as a binge-worthy full season release has now turned into a consistent weekly episode release going on 5 seasons. 

The most exciting and surprising part of the podcast journey was hearing how the show not only connected with other aspiring filmmakers, but also those who are not in the industry at all! It has also been so rewarding building the relationships made from connecting with different industry guests. Especially the amount of talented female cinematographers, DP’s, writers, and directors.

Which, the hosts would like to add, is why it is important to actually seek these women out for hire; they are out there and doing amazing things. Platforms that the hosts recommend checking out include: Free the Work, African American Women in Cinema, Women in Film, and of course, Femme Regard Podcast!

Tessa and Carolina hope to continue to build a solid community of independent filmmakers who can work together. In order to keep up with episode topics and guests, follow the ladies on Instagram @femmeregard, Facebook @FemmeRegardProductions, and Twitter @femme_regard. The future holds nothing but excitement for Carolina and Tessa as they look forward to showcasing their own projects as well!

Dolittle Makes A Number 1 Debut – This week’s brand-new Number 1 is Dolittle, debuting at the top of the Official Film Chart on digital downloads only. Starring Robert Downey Jr. as the eponymous character with the power to communicate with animals, the film flies straight to the top with a huge 45,000 sales. 

Onward returns to its peak of Number 2 thanks to its release across disc as 1917 drops to Number 3. 

At Number 4, the critically acclaimed Parasite – the first foreign language film to ever win Best Picture at the Oscars – makes its debut, also making it the first ever non-English language film to enter the Official Film Chart Top 10! The destitute Kim family orchestrate a plan to become servants for the wealthy Parks family by posing as qualified workers, while greed and class discrimination threaten the relationship that forms between the two families.

Last week’s chart-topper Bad Boys For Life drops to Number 5, as Cats claws up a place to Number 6. Little Women drops to 7; Frozen 2 stays where it is at Number 8.

Our third new entry is the Sci-fi horror, Underwater at Number 9. A massive earthquake devastates a drilling station in the bottom of an oceanic trench, and the crew must try to get to safety as they battle terrifying deep-sea creatures, darkness and lack of oxygen. 

Finally, rounding off this week’s countdown, Jumanji: The Next Level hangs on at Number 10.

This week’s Official Film Chart features a preview of The Personal History of David Copperfield, starring Dev Patel alongside an all-star cast – Available to Download & Keep from June 13 and to buy on DVD & Blu-ray from June 15^th.

The Greatest Showman Surpasses one million digital downloads

Smash hit musical film The Greatest Showman has, in the last two weeks, been verified as the first release to ever surpass 1,000,000 ‘Download & Keep’ digital transactions.

As of 9^th June, the title sits at 1,014,000 total digital sales, 500,000 copies ahead of its nearest rival, the Queen bio-pic Bohemian Rhapsody. The hugely successful film starring Hugh Jackman has sold more than 3.1 million copies in total across disc and digital and is inspired by the story of P. T. Barnum’s creation of Barnum’s American Museum and the lives of its star attractions.

The Greatest Showman was the UK’s biggest home entertainment release of 2018, doubling the figure of the Number 2 film,Avengers: Infinity War, and has spent a whopping 78 weeks in the Official Film Chart Top 40.

Its motion picture cast recording is one of the longest-reigning Number 1 albums of all time, spending 28 non-consecutive weeks at Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart to match The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

The Official Film Chart Top 10 – 10^th June 2020

LW	Pos	Title	Label
NEW	1	DOLITTLE	UNIVERSAL PICTURES
4	2	ONWARD	WALT DISNEY
2	3	1917	ENTERTAINMENT ONE
NEW	4	PARASITE	ARTIFICIAL EYE
1	5	BAD BOYS FOR LIFE	SONY PICTURES HE
7	6	CATS	UNIVERSAL PICTURES
3	7	LITTLE WOMEN (2019)	SONY PICTURES HE
8	8	FROZEN 2	WALT DISNEY
NEW	9	UNDERWATER	20TH CENTURY FOX HE
10	10	JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL	SONY PICTURES HE

© Official Charts Company 2020

VIEW THE FULL TOP 40 – https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/film-chart/