ThisFilmIsOn

As Alice peers down the rabbit hole, she wonders whether she’ll make it into Odeon. You may have heard over the last few days that Odeon Cinemas were refusing to show Tim Burton’s new film version of Alice in Wonderland. The meat of the matter? Disney wanted to release Wonderland on DVD 12 weeks after it’s theatrical release. Hit the jump to see what the fuss was about.

What’s the problem with that then? Why all the commotion? It’s simple really, if Disney get away with it, other studios will want to do it. What it actually means is that films will be in the cinema for shorter periods of time, meaning people will have less of a chance to see the film as it’s meant to be seen.

I still haven’t seen Avatar. It’s been out at the cinema for 10 weeks now and there are still plenty of showings I can catch. If Disney got their way and this was Wonderland; I’d only have a fortnight left to see it… Starting to get the idea? There’s usually heave discussions over a films theatrical release, and some pretty tough negotiations. In the past there have been boycotts and refusals galore, but most of the time they get settled in the final days before the film’s release.

Previously, Fox’s Night at the Museum was pulled from Odeon and Vue cinema’s as 20th Century Fox wanted to shorten it’s cinema release to just 13 weeks. Sometimes, in rare cases, films are turned down by the cinema chains (usually when it’s a stinker!), but the studios talk them into showing the film when they’ll threaten to hold back a much better movie scheduled for later in the year.

Anyway, since the dust has settled, Odeon have announced that they will indeed be showing Alice in Wonderland and there’s nothing to worry about. Why the change of heart? Neither side are saying. Disney could have backtracked and realised the error of their ways, or they could have been threatened to hold back any other Disney or Beuna Vista release.

I’m happy. I’ll get to see this masterpiece (hopefully!) at my local Odeon IMAX.