British Cinema Chain Confirms Wonderland Boycott
By WENNTuesday, February 23, 2010
TIM BURTON’s new blockbuster ALICE IN WONDERLAND will be given a limited release in Britain after bosses at the country’s biggest cinema chain voted to ban it from their screens.
Executives at Odeon, which owns 107 cinemas in the U.K. and Ireland, have decided to boycott Burton’s 3D picture after plans were announced to launch the movie on DVD just three months after it hits theatres.
Odeon chiefs, along with bosses at Vue and Cineworld, had called for the film - starring Johnny Depp and Anne Hathaway - to be given the standard 17-week gap before it was made available for home viewing.
An Odeon spokesperson says, “The negative impact on cinema attendance that such a reduction in the window will have will threaten the continued existence of many cinemas, especially the smaller and medium-sized cinemas. (It would) set a new benchmark, leading to a 12-week window becoming rapidly standard.”
Company bosses refused to back down and have voted in favour of a ban, so fans will be unable to watch Alice In Wonderland on Odeon screens in the U.K., the Irish Republic and Italy. Executives at Vue and Cineworld have reportedly agreed a deal with Disney chiefs to show the movie.
The film is also facing a boycott in Holland, with many movie theatre owners in the Netherlands refusing to show the picture if the early home release goes ahead.
