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London, Thursday 16 April 2009

FDA LAUNCHES A SUMMER OF HIGH ADVENTURE IN UK CINEMAS

175 films due for release May - August 2009

London, 16 April 2009. On behalf of UK film distributors, the trade body Film Distributors' Association (FDA) today launches the line-up for summer 2009 in UK cinemas.

"Summer films" are quintessentially perceived as larger-than-life adventure stories with innovative effects, often segments of franchises with recurring characters. The cinema has the power to create global franchises relatively quickly and to refresh them regularly. Summer 2009 looks set to deliver against audiences' expectations with new installments in the Harry Potter, Transformers, Terminator, X-Men, Ice Age and Star Trek sagas. Alongside these are brand new big-screen adventures with GI Joe, G-Force and Land of the Lost.

Ben Stiller is back as security guard Larry Daley in Night at the Museum 2, while Tom Hanks returns as Robert Langdon in Ron Howard's adaptation of Angels & Demons.

Christian Bale - star of last summer's hit The Dark Knight - has two films out this summer. He is the new John Connor in Terminator: Salvation and appears opposite Johnny Depp in Michael Mann's Public Enemies.

Importantly, in addition to the broadside of spectacular adventures, summer 2009 offers audiences a formidable range of contrasting choices. The latest works by such distinguished filmmakers as Pedro Almodovar, Charlie Kaufman, Ken Loach, Stephen Frears and Claude Chabrol will be unveiled during the season.

New films by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez will also be launched: Inglourious Basterds and Shorts, respectively. World renowned comedy directors Judd Apatow and Harold Ramis offer, in turn, Funny People starring Seth Rogen and Adam Sandler, and Year One teaming Jack Black with BAFTA rising star nominee Michael Cera.

During summer 2009 - a watershed year for 3D in cinemas - five releases will be enhanced by presentation in digital 3D where available: Coraline, Final Destination: Death Trip, G-Force, Ice Age 3 and Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience.

FDA President, Lord Puttnam CBE, said: "At heart, people value great content, and for many of us today the summer is at least partly defined by the experience of the films we see in cinemas. This year's line-up includes a mouth-watering array of titles by some top-flight filmmakers, alongside all the high adventure, humour, heroes and heartache that give audiences an emotional work-out as they relax in their seats. Such are the choices on offer, I invite everyone to consider an extra visit or two during this terrific summer at the movies."

Aiming to encourage more cinemagoing in the summer - a season without international football and Olympic Games - FDA is today (16 April) launching two initiatives, targeting audiences in cinemas, at home and on the move:

1. A one-minute compilation trailer, designed to highlight the range of forthcoming films and to whet appetites for the sheer excitement of the cinema experience. It features glimpses of 33 films set for UK release between May and August. Classified "U", the trailer will play online and on 3,000 cinema screens from Friday 24 April.

For the first time, this trailer features a voice-over by four members of the public who won local newspaper competitions. To emphasise the large selection of films with something for everyone, the voices are a younger woman (from Swindon), an older woman (from Worcester), a younger man (from Bolton) and an older man (from Buckinghamshire). All recorded their audio tracks in London on 3 April. And:

2. Free distribution of two million copies of Focus, a movie preview magazine, to members of the public in UK cinema catchment areas. Running to 20 pages, the pocket-sized Focus includes a fold-out centre-spread calendar of releases for easy reference.

One million copies of Focus will be issued w/c 27 April and a further million w/c 30 June, each covering the following two months' releases. Most copies will be distributed by postcode-targeted doordrop to family households, with the remainder offered in health club foyers and selected cinemas. Readers will be able to share opinions and ask questions via the Focus channels on social network websites. In addition, monthly podcasts by Anwar Brett, editor of Focus, will be available via iTunes and the dedicated website, www.summerofcinema.com.

Media enquiries to FDA
22 Golden Square, London W1F 9JW

Carrie Thatcher
Tel: 020 7437 4383
Email cthatcher@fda.uk.net

Wendy Kidd
Tel: 07970 861 489
Email wendykidd@blueyonder.co.uk

To place or embed the summer trailer, free, please contact:
andy.gibbons@moviebeat.co.ukTel: 07912 467 009
nick.adams@moviebeat.co.ukTel: 07912 467 008

Content available now

Summer 2009 compilation trailer, runs 72 seconds including credits (contacts above).

A "Making Of the Summer 2009 compilation trailer" video, runs 2½ minutes, featuring the voice-over recordings by the four members of the public.

FDA media briefing cards: UK cinemagoing January-March 2009; the line-up for summer 2009; the top 40 summer films of all time in UK cinemas.

Advance copy of FDA's Focus magazine covering May and June releases (to be published w/c 27 April).

Film images, specific trailers and related materials are available from individual distributor sources as per usual arrangements.

Notes to editors

• Film Distributors' Association, the trade body promoting the generic interests of UK theatrical film distributors, has a formidable membership of 21 companies accounting for 96% of UK cinemagoing. More at www.launchingfilms.com.



• Focus, a generic magazine previewing the coming season's cinema releases, has been published quarterly by FDA since 2007. With 20 pages, sized A5, each issue is printed on paper produced from sustainable managed forests accredited by the Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certification.



• The 33 films incorporated in the one-minute summer 2009 compilation trailer are: Adventureland, Angels & Demons, Bandslam, Blood: The Last Vampire, Broken Embraces, Bruno, Coraline, The End of the Line, Funny People, G-Force, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, GI Joe: Rise of the Cobra, Hannah Montana: The Movie, Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience, Hamlet 2, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Ice Age 3D: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Imagine That, Inglourious Basterds, Land of the Lost, Night at the Museum 2, O'Horten, The Proposal, Public Enemies, Red Cliff, Star Trek, Synecdoche New York, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, Terminator: Salvation, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Tormented, 12 Rounds and X-Men Origins: Wolverine.



• A subtitled version of the trailer has been produced to assist cinemagoers with hearing impairments. It will play online including at www.yourlocalcinema.com



• The UK's overall highest grossing film of all time (£69.1m box-office) is , released in July 2008, followed by Titanic (£69.0m), released in January 1998.

The trend continues: Easter box-office up 9.3% vs. Easter 2008

Like-for-like UK cinema box-office receipts were 9.3% higher in Easter weekend 2009 compared with last Easter. More than 3 million people went to the cinema over Easter 2009. FDA believes a main reason for this is the range of films on release this year, appealing to a wider audience:

	Easter weekend	UK cinema box-office receipts	Top 3 films on release
1	10-12 April 2009	£14.62m + 9.3% year-on-year	Fast & Furious, Monsters Vs. Aliens, 17 Again
2	21-23 March 2008	£13.37m	Horton Hears A Who, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Step Up 2: The Streets

The importance of summer to UK cinema. (source: Screen Digest)

	Gross box-office receipts £m	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004	2003
	May - August	400.5	378.2	279.4	276.8	305.7	281.9
	Total year	949.0	904.7	844.5	840.5	838.1	828.4
	T% May - August	42.2%	41.8%	33.1%	32.9%	36.4%	34.0%

Note: These box-office figures are for UK + Ireland.

Contact at Screen Digest

David Hancock, Head of Film & Cinema
Tel: 020 7424 2820
Email david.hancock@screendigest.com
www.screendigest.com

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