Selected warp gaps box office figures

1. SSeelleecctteedd WWaarrpp BBOOXX OOFFFFIICCEE FFIIGGUURREESS
FILM £ BUDGET £ UK BO $ US BO
$
WORLD
BO
No. of COUNTRIES BBFC/MPAA US SCREENS UK SCREENS
YT/GOOGLE
DL PRICE £
Submarine 1.2m 2m 468k 5m 17 15/R 28 107 N/A
Distributedby WeinsteinCompanyin the US, againon arthousecircuitonly,the Welsh accentprovinga hardsell. DirectorRichardAyoade(knownfor UK sitcom TheIT Crowd)had
directedtheconcertfeatureArctic Monkeys Live at the Apollofor Warp beforethey fundedthis fictionalfeaturedebut.With the usualnostars anda Welsh setting this was noeasy sell,
but comeshighupthe Amazon comedyfilm list andCraigRoberts has goneonto Hollywoodmoviesand US TVseries sincethisfilm was originallyreleased.Thesoundtrackwas
written andperformedbythe Arctic Monkeyslead singerAlex Turner(thebandalso appearinLe Donk!).
FourLions 2.5m 2.7m 302k 4.7m 19 15/R 14 230
Releasedon115screensandexpectedto strugglethe surprising1st weektake saw Optimum rushout115new prints, achievingwhatremainsWarp’sbestUK box office! Headof
ProductionMarkHerbertwrotea diary from the SundanceFilm FestivalforTheGuardian,partof the buzz-building,whiledirectorChrisMorrisdidQ+As for Curzon cinemasinthe
openingweek.DrafthouseFilmsdistributedinthe US … 9 monthsafter Sundance,andyet againa smallarthousereleaseonly.
‘71 8.1m 1m 1.3m 3m 12 18/R 121 ?
Thesearedisappointingfiguresfora film that won a lot of majorawardnominations,includingaBafta for JackO’Connellas bestnewcomerandwasa slicklyproducedactionthriller
(even with the usual socialrealistelements,the stunts andSFX were notableandreflectiveof the higherbudget).TheNorthernIrelandsettingwas a hardsell, but againthis was
surelya movie with realprospectsif onlythey had a distributorwillingto take a risk. In the US it was RoadsideAttractions.
750k 243k 22k 400k 9 18/unrated 5 ?
Greatexampleof the differenceownershipmakesandwhyIndies struggle:there hadbeena US buzz after a strongcriticalreceptionatTIFF (TorontoInternationalFilmFestival),but
they managedonlyan IndiedistributorspecialisinginLGBT films,StrandReleasing,whodidn’teven cuta trailer for the US release!Thefilm trendedgloballyonTwitterafter Olivia
Colmanfailedtowin a Bafta for herrole inthe film, anothersignthat this harshsocialrealistfilm couldhave hada chancewith moremarketingspend.
1.5m 2.1m 329k 8m 15 18/unrated 14 346
17 weeksin US with just 14prints touringarthouse cinemas;would beseenas a difficultmoviethere. IFC distributedin US; Warp have had to use a different US distributoreachtime
they’ve managedtoget a US release.Theyhave a longstandingrelationshipwithStudioCanalUK(wasOptimumReleasing),itself anNBC-Usubsidiaryfor UK releases.Director
Meadowsalsodid DeadMan’sShoes andLe Donk, bothstarring PaddyConsidine –who directedTyrannosaur,developinghisWarpshort film Dog DayAfternoon. TheTVseriesThis
is England‘86/’88/’90 havepushedWarp to becomeasmuchaTVproducerasa film producer.
LeDonkand Scor-Zay-
Zee
Thepowerof digitsation:this Warp X film showcasedthepotentialfor micro-budgetdigitalproduction.Warpcleverlyreleaseda cinematrailertohelpget
newspaperreviewsand dulyfeatured TheGuardianandothersonthe DVD cover. You couldalsoget Le DonkXmascardsthroughtheirwebsite, a rare
exampleofgoodonlinemarketingfrom Warp. ManyWarp productionshavefailedto get a theatricalrelease: L (Greek!),She, a Chinese (subtitled,about
illegalChineseimmigrantinLondon)etc.ForThose in Peril got just £2k, but was an experimentalreleaseacrossTVandcinemawithnoreleasewindow,
andthe DVD followingswiftly. OnlyFOURWarpmovies have managed$1m+globaltakings!!!TisEng$8m,SubmarineandFourLions$5m,’71$3m.
WT2’sdebutrelease,the $5m budgetBillyElliot, has grossedmorethan allthe Warp movies combinedwith$110m!!!Warpdon’t have the advantageof
steady bigsix internationaldistribution,letalonein the UK. TheseareallavailablethroughAmazon for DL or rent but not YouTubeorGooglePlaypurchase
– exclusivedeal.
£48kbudget5-day
shoot