DAD and Potter set to squeeze cinemas this November

23-Oct-2002 • Bond News

The Independant have a report on how DAD and the other two big blockbusters due out this season are threatening smaller films:

There are more than 3,000 cinema screens in the UK but about half are likely to show Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which opens on 15 November, and Die Another Day, the latest Bond adventure with Pierce Brosnan which opens a week later.

In December, the second instalment of Lord of the Rings will be added to the mix. But a host of other movies face being squeezed to the margins - or into oblivion - as the three blockbusters dominate all but the art-house circuit.

While the advent of the multiplex promised limitless choice, the reality is proving different. In Brighton, for instance, the eight-screen Odeon and its eight-screen UGC rival are likely to play three screens each of Potter and Bond - three-quarters of the available cinema space.

Industry rumour suggests that Fox, distributors of Die Another Day, has put great pressure on cinema chains to make sure that its movie does not suffer at the hands of Harry Potter.

Alan North, sales director of Buena Vista, which is distributing none of the three blockbusters, said: "It`s a very dangerous game. By devoting so many screens to these movies, it alienates an audience that is used to being a bit more selective." Buena Vista has decided to back a few, critically acclaimed films likely to please audiences desperate to avoid wizardry and spies in the second half of November and early December.