Film4 brings Trainspotting back to cinema to lure back audiences

Film4 has partnered with global film distributor Park Circus to offer UK cinemas a programme of six classic productions to encourage UK audiences back to movie theatres this summer.

Channel 4 will run an on-air promotional campaign running across its portfolio of channels and a paid digital campaign, each created by the broadcaster’s in-house agency 4Creative.

The movie season campaign is part of Channel 4’s commitment to supporting the UK’s broader creative sector and to bolster the hard-hit UK cinema sector’s recovery from the pandemic closures of the last 15 months.

Despite cinemas reopening in the UK on 17 May as part of Covid-19 restrictions being eased, albeit with a 50% capacity, while the pandemic has forced movie production schedules to be postponed or cancelled. Last year the amount spend in the UK on film and TV production plunged by 20% to £2.8bn.

Picturehouse, Everyman, Odeon, Vue and Showcase cinema chains are participating in the Film4 programme, with film bookings available from the start of July and a number of additional sites expected to be added over the coming weeks.

Director of Film4 Daniel Battsek said: “Film4 has a long history of producing films for theatrical exhibition. We felt we should do something to help the sector’s recovery from the pandemic and remind audiences that cinemas remain the best places to experience movies.”

The season comprises six Film4 movies that were chosen to demonstrate the brand’s commitment to diversity, inclusion, geographical representation, authored filmmaking and new talent: Trainspotting (1996), Brassed Off (1996) My Beautiful Launderette (1985), Bhaji on the Beach (1993), Local Hero (1983) and Sexy Beast (2000).