Advanced Television

Day-and-date for Sky’s Busby movie

July 25, 2014

By Colin Mann

Sky Movies is releasing Believe, starring Brian Cox, Toby Stephens and Natascha McElhone, on Sky Movies on the same day as it goes into cinemas, offering Sky Movies customers the chance to watch it from the comfort of their own homes.

This represents the first time there has ever been a day/date release on the Sky Movies subscription service. The film, which will be released across the UK on July 25, will air on Sky Movies Premiere at 7pm, and will also be available on demand.

Sky Movies has partnered with Trinity Film, the distributor of Believe, on the innovative deal, in an attempt to experiment further with breaking the traditional windows around how films are released. Sky Movies has previously offered a number of theatrical titles to rent via Sky Store; including Bachelorette.

Believe centres on legendary football manager Sir Matt Busby, restless in the twilight of his life, who discovers a young tearaway on the streets of Manchester with an extraordinary talent for football. Having lived with the game all his life and survived the tragic 1958 Munich plane crash in which eight of his promising young players were killed, Sir Matt is still committed to continue his work of ‘training lads for life’.

“We’re delighted to have such a great film to kick off – no pun intended – this experiment in breaking the traditional windows,” commented Ian Lewis, Director Sky Movies. “Believe is the perfect antidote if you’re feeling a bit down after our World Cup performance – we’re confident our customers will love it, and we’re thrilled that we can bring it to them at the same time as its released across the UK.”

“It is a crucial time for the homegrown, independent sector to explore new business models, and we are delighted to have found in Sky a partner willing to do just that, with essential support from the BFI,” added Cedric Behrel, co-founder/director of Trinity Film. “Independent family films are notoriously difficult to take to market and we hope the innovative release of Believe will create a precedent for the future.”

The release is being supported by the BFI through a New Models Distribution Fund award.

 

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