In celebration of its 30th anniversary, TheCrow is coming back to big screens across the UK and Ireland from 31 May 2024 for one week only. Get more info and book now!

It's time to plug back into The Matrix, returning to cinemas across the UK and Ireland from 7 June 2024 for its 25th anniversary. Get more info and book now!

Danny Boyle’s feature debut is exhumed on the big screen from 10 May 2024, in celebration of its 30th anniversary. Get more info and book now!

Trainspotting is back on the big screen from 24 May 2024 in brand new 4K restoration – supervised by director Danny Boyle and supported by new marketing materials. Get more info and book now!

Watched on Friday April 5, 2024.

Watched on Friday March 29, 2024.

Following its world premiere at Berlinale this month, the stellar new 4K restoration of Martin Scorsese's cult classic After Hours returns to cinemas from 22 March 2024. Get more info and book now!

Watched on Thursday March 14, 2024.

Following a UK restoration premiere at Glasgow Film Festival, Ratcatcher returns to cinemas from 12 April in a stunning new director-approved 4K restoration, supported by our brand new poster and trailer. Get more info and book now!

Watched on Friday February 16, 2024.

Watched on Friday February 16, 2024.

Watched on Friday February 2, 2024.

Watched on Friday February 9, 2024.

Watched on Friday February 9, 2024.

Watched on Friday February 2, 2024.

To celebrate Lunar New Year (10 February), Park Circus is bringing Po-Chih Leong's groundbreaking Ping Pong back to cinemas across the UK and Ireland from 9 February 2024. Get more info and book now!

Supervised by Francis Ford Coppola, Park Circus is bringing the dazzling new 4K restoration of One from the Heart to cinemas across the UK and Ireland from 16 February 2024 in a new Reprise cut. Get more info and book now!

To celebrate its 90th anniversary, Park Circus is bringing Frank Capra's legendary screwball rom-com back to big screens across the UK and Ireland from 9 February 2024 for Valentine's Day. Complimented by brand new artwork and trailer and lovingly restored in 4K, get more info and book now!

Park Circus is proud to be bringing the breathtaking new 4K restoration of Days of Heaven to cinemas across the UK and Ireland from 2 February 2024 – supported by gorgeous new artwork and trailer. Get more info and book now!

Celebrate the 10th anniversary of Matthew Warchus’ star-studded story of solidarity Pride and the historic 40th anniversary of United Kingdom miners’ strike with a selection
of titles celebrating working class camaraderie. Get in touch to book now!

Note that inclusion of a title within this collection does not guarantee rights or print availability for a specific territory.

• Pride
• Nine to Five
• Billy Elliot
• Brassed Off
• The Devil and Miss Jones
• Made in Dagenham
• Newsies
• Norma Rae
• North Country
• Which Side Are You On?

...plus 6 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Days of Heaven

  2 February. 4K restoration re-release, with brand-new poster artwork and trailer, and newly-commissioned programme notes by John Bleasdale.

• 10 Things I Hate About You

  2 February. 25th anniversary Valentine's Day re-release.

• It Happened One Night

  9 February. 90th anniversary Valentine's Day re-release, with brand-new poster artwork.

• Ping Pong

  9 February. First-time DCP re-release for Lunar New Year, with brand-new poster artwork by Shipei Wang and newly-commissioned programme notes by Katie Smith-Wong.

• Interview with the Vampire

  16 February. 30th anniversary re-release, with Valentine's Day previews.

• One from the Heart

  16 February. Brand-new "Reprise" edition re-release.

• After Hours

  22 March. 4K restoration re-release.

• Mary Poppins

  29th March. 60th anniversary re-release for Easter weekend.

• On the Waterfront

  5 April. 70th anniversary 4K restoration re-release in celebration of Marlon Brando's centenary.

• Ratcatcher

  12 April. 25th anniversary 4K restoration re-release.

...plus 10 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Commemorate Pride Month with a selection of truly celebratory queer titles, led by the 30th anniversary of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. No bittersweet yearnings, no tragic romances, and no sign of the “bury your gays” trope. Angst and anxiety remain, but they’re always followed by a happy ending. Get in touch to book now!

Note that inclusion of a title within this collection does not guarantee rights or print availability for a specific territory.

• The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
• American Honey
• Ammonite
• Beautiful Thing
• The Birdcage
• Booksmart
• D.E.B.S.
• Desert Hearts
• Handsome Devil
• Happiest Season

...plus 13 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Among the most enduring film stars of all time, 2024 marks 100 years since the birth of Marlon Brando. The time has never been better to celebrate the remarkable career of a legendary star with a selection of all-time great performances, perfect for planning a retrospective season.Lead the celebrations with a 4K restoration of On The Waterfont (returning to cinemas from 5 April in time for its 70th anniversary) and The Fugitive Kind, available with new poster artwork. Get in touch to book now!

Note that inclusion of a title within this collection does not guarantee rights or print availability for a specific territory.

• On the Waterfront
• The Fugitive Kind
• Apocalypse Now
• A Streetcar Named Desire
• The Wild One
• The Godfather
• The Godfather: Part II
• Last Tango in Paris
• Burn!
• The Brave

...plus 18 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Note: That Sinking Feeling is unavailable in UK/EIRE, and Young Adam is select territories only - please enquire for further details.

• Ratcatcher
• Ae Fond Kiss...
• Carla's Song
• Comfort and Joy
• Dear Frankie
• God Help the Girl
• Heavenly Pursuits
• Late Night Shopping
• The Legend of Barney Thomson
• Madeleine

...plus 8 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

To make sure beloved classics commemorating notable anniversaries this year get the big screen celebrations they deserve, we've put together a handy collection packed with Hollywood hits, cult classics, timeless favourites, and much more.

Park Circus are planning re-release campaigns on selected anniversary titles. Get in touch for further information/dates and to align programmes accordingly!

Note that inclusion of a title within this collection does not guarantee rights or print availability for a specific territory. Download the 2024 anniversaries list PDF.

• The Thief of Bagdad
• Sherlock, Jr.
• The Iron Horse
• It Happened One Night
• The Black Cat
• The Thin Man
• Cleopatra
• Imitation of Life
• The Man Who Knew Too Much
• The Scarlet Empress

...plus 122 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• The Fugitive Kind

  18 January. Reissued across France, with brand-new poster artwork.

• Roman Holiday

  3 February. Valentines Day 70th anniversary 4K reissue, with updated poster artwork and trailer

• Buck and the Preacher

  3 March. 4K restoration reissue, with brand-new poster artwork and trailer.

• The Age of Innocence

  17 March. 30th anniversary reissue with brand-new poster artwork.

• The Big Lebowski

  31 March. 25th anniversary reissue, with updated poster artwork and trailer.

• Safety Last!

  1 April. Year-round 100th anniversary reissue, with brand-new poster artwork.

• Raging Bull

  14 April. 4K restoration reissue with brand-new poster artwork and trailer.

• Alien

  26 April. Alien Day reissue #1.

• Aliens

  26 April. Alien Day reissue #2.

• Local Hero

  19 May. 40th anniversary reissue, with brand-new poster artwork.

...plus 20 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Park Circus is proud to announce that the new 4K restoration of Film4’s Trainspotting has been officially selected for the 77th Festival de Cannes, screening on the beach on Tuesday 14 May, as part of the Cinéma de la Plage – Cannes Classics programme.

Following its premiere at the festival, the new director-approved restoration of Trainspotting will release theatrically from 24 May 2024, courtesy of Park Circus.

Feast your eyes on this stunning 4K restoration with our brand new trailer now!

Meet us at Cannes!

Park Circus is also excited to be returning to La Croisette next week and would love to see you! Whether it's big screen classics, contemporary hits or home entertainment availabilities, come and chat to us about our extensive range of licensing options. Please get in touch to arrange a meeting.

Doug Davis - CEO
Jack Bell - Director of Sales & Marketing
Nia Baxter - Director of Strategy & Content Acquisition

Arrange a meeting or get in touch to book!

Real love is forever.

Ahead of the highly anticipated remake, Park Circus is resurrecting the original cult classic The Crow on big screens across the UK and Ireland from 31 May 2024 for one week only – accompanied by new marketing materials, including poster (above, exclusively revealed by Cineworld) and trailer (coming soon).

Rock star Eric Draven (the late Brandon Lee in his tragic final performance) and his fiancée are brutally murdered – but Draven rises from the grave with the aid of a mysterious crow, which soon guides him on his quest for revenge...

Believe in angels. Resurrect The Crow. Book now!

Summer is coming, programmers... get ready with our new booking guide!

Highlights include Park Circus re-releases of cult favourite The Crow (30th anniversary, one week only) and sporting classic Chariots of Fire (celebrating the 2024 Paris Olympics), as well as stunning new 4K DCPs of Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Trilogy (Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen), Beat Street (40th anniversary), and Lone Star (premiering at this year's Cinema Rediscovered). 

Dig deeper and unearth re-releases of The Mummy (25th anniversary, continuing our year-round celebration of 1999), alongside Mean Girls (20th anniversary, Mean Girls Day), Pride (10th anniversary), Summer of '99 celebrations and much more!

Download the Q3 2024 Classic Cinema Booking Guide!

Ladies, start your engines!

We hereby christen this budget Barbie camper... Priscilla, Queen of the Desert! Stephan Elliott's joyous queer classic is returning to cinemas across the US from 1 June, the UK and Ireland from 14 June, and Australia and New Zealand from September 2024 – supported by brand new 30th anniversary artwork (above, exclusively revealed by Letterboxd across social media) and trailer.

Climb aboard and let Priscilla lead your Pride Month programming, with Go Fish (30th anniversary, 4K restored DCP), Pride (10th anniversary, back in cinemas from 7 June 2024), and many more also available!

Get in touch and book now!

No-one can be told what The Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.

After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill – the story ends, you believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill – you celebrate the 25th anniversary of a stone-cold cyberpunk classic on the big screen.

It's time to plug back into The Matrix, returning to cinemas across the UK and Ireland from 7 June 2024 with 25th anniversary marketing materials, including poster (exclusively revealed by Empire across social media) and trailer (above). 

Free your mind and a plan a full 1999 season this Summer, with Ratcatcher (with new poster and DCP trailer), Being John Malkovich, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Galaxy Quest, Eyes Wide Shut, Election, The Virgin Suicides (with Sofa Coppola DCP introduction), plus The Mummy (with re-release news coming soon), and many more available to book now.

Follow the White Rabbit back to the big screen – book now!

What's a little murder between friends?

Three flatmates, a dead body, and a suitcase full of cash - what's the worst that could happen? Featuring a killer cast and pitch-black humour, Danny Boyle's feature debut Shallow Grave is being exhumed back on the big screen from 10 May 2024, in celebration of its 30th anniversary. 

No need to give into destructive competitive urges – make it a Danny Boyle big-screen double with Trainspotting, also returning to cinemas from 24 May in a stunning new 4K restoration and available with new marketing materials. 

Want more Boyle for your buck? Make it a season with our new, cost effective Danny Boyle DCP combo drive, featuring Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, 28 Days Later, Sunshine, and T2: Trainspotting.

Dig up Shallow Grave on the big screen!

Restored digital transfer, supervised by director of photography Brian Tufano.

Doesn't it make you proud to be Scottish?

Choose a classic and satisfy your lust for life as Renton, Spud, Sick Boy, and Begbie return to the big screen. Among the most popular, ground-breaking, and influential films of the ‘90s, Trainspotting is back on the big screen from 24 May 2024 in brand new 4K restoration – supervised by director Danny Boyle and supported by new marketing materials.

Choose more and make it a Boyle back-to-back with his directorial debut Shallow Grave, returning to cinemas from 10 May 2024 in celebration of its 30th anniversary.

Choose life. Choose the big screen.

Choose the new 4K restoration of Trainspotting.

Dae you belong tae Glasgow?

With Lynne Ramsay's Ratcatcher celebrating its 25th anniversary and returning to cinemas in a gorgeous new 4K restoration from 12 April, the time has never been better to celebrate Glesga - the home of Park Circus - on the big screen. From the heartfelt whimsy of Comfort and Joy to the terrifying silence of Under the Skin, plan your season paying homage to the Dear Green Place now!

Browse the full collection and get in touch to book now!

Note: That Sinking Feeling is unavailable in UK/EIRE, and Young Adam is select territories only - please enquire for further details. Inclusion of a title within this collection does not guarantee rights or print availability for a specific territory.

Following a UK restoration premiere at Glasgow Film Festival, Lynne Ramsay’s Ratcatcher will return to cinemas from 12 April 2024 in a stunning new director-approved restoration – supported by brand new poster artwork and 4K trailer (above), exclusively revealed by GFF across social media. 

In a confident, spellbinding debut, Ramsay invokes a haunting portrayal of an impoverished Glasgow childhood during the 1975 binmen strike, as 12-year-old James (William Eadie) is haunted by his part in a local tragedy and struggles to reconcile his hopes with his guilt.

Featuring breathtaking imagery, stunningly truthful performances, and a touch of warm humour, this landmark debut remains raw and deeply moving 25 years on.

Book the 4K restoration of Ratcatcher now!

Presented by Park Circus, this new 4K restoration was undertaken by the Criterion Collection in collaboration with Pathe and supervised by director Lynne Ramsay and cinematographer Alwin Küchler. The 35mm original camera negative was scanned in 16-bit 4K resolution on an ARRISCAN film scanner at Silver Salt Restoration in London. The original 2.0 surround soundtrack was remastered from the 35mm magnetic track.

Born the same year as the inception of Columbia Pictures, Marlon Brando would have celebrated his 100th birthday on 3 April 2024.

To celebrate, his Academy Award®-winning performance in On the Waterfront returns to the big screen from 5 April 2024 – commemorating the film's 70th anniversary and supported by a brand new poster (above), exclusively revealed today by Letterboxd.

Available in a striking 4K restoration and featuring an iconic musical score from Leonard Bernstein, Elia Kazan’s legendary elegy to American corruption, redemption and missed opportunity swept the 1955 Academy Awards® with 8 wins and has truly never looked better. Don’t miss your chance to be a contender… get in touch to book now.

Make it a Brando retrospective with additional titles available to book, including The Godfather: Part II (with 50th anniversary artwork), The Fugitive Kind (with marketing materials), A Streetcar Named Desire, Last Tango in Paris, and more.

Get in touch and book On the Waterfront now!

Park Circus is delighted to announce a brand new and exclusive DCP video introduction accompanying our upcoming re-release of Letterboxd member Martin Scorsese’s After Hours, from none other than lead actor Griffin Dunne!

A celebrated character actor, director, and producer, Griffin is beloved by audiences for roles in An American Werewolf in London, Dallas Buyers Club, and The French Dispatch, directing Addicted to Love, Practical Magic, and much more. In addition to receiving a Golden Globe® nomination for his performance in After Hours, Griffin also produced the picture alongside Amy Robinson and Robert F. Colesberry.

Griffin's introduction is provided as a separate DCP with theatrical bookings of After Hours, providing the perfect way to welcome audiences to the 4K restoration of Scorsese's cult classic.

Book the 4K restoration of After Hours with Griffin’s intro now!

Spring is here, and the sun is shining on our new booking guide!

Winter is finally behind us, and Park Circus is ready to put some spring in your programming step with the latest edition of our Classic Cinema Booking Guide, covering April to June and available to download now.

Highlights include Park Circus re-releases of two Danny Boyle classics; Trainspotting (4K restoration) and Shallow Grave (30th anniversary), alongside stunning 4K restorations of Ratcatcher (25th anniversary) and On the Waterfront (70th anniversary, Marlon Brando 100) – supported by fresh marketing assets, plus new DCPs of Foxy Brown (50th anniversary), Go Fish (30th anniversary), and Footloose (4K,40th anniversary).

This packed edition also includes Park Circus re-releases of The Matrix (25th anniversary) and Network (Sidney Lumet 100), plus The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (30th anniversary) driving our Pride Month programming inspiration, and much more!

Download the Q2 2024 Classic Cinema Booking Guide!

Among the most enduring film stars of all time, 2024 marks 100 years since the birth of Marlon Brando. The time has never been better to celebrate the remarkable career of a legendary star with a selection of all-time great performances, perfect for planning a retrospective season.

Lead the celebrations with a 4K restoration of On The Waterfront (returning to cinemas from 5 April in time for its 70th anniversary) and The Fugitive Kind, available with new poster artwork.

Browse the full collection and get in touch to book now!

Additional titles available to book include Apocalypse Now, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Wild One, Julius Caesar, The Godfather, Last Tango In Paris, Viva Zapata, Superman, and many more.

Different rules apply when it gets late...

Following its world premiere at Berlinale this month, the stellar new 4K restoration of Letterboxd member Martin Scorsese's cult classic After Hours will return to cinemas from 22 March 2024 – supported by artwork and new trailer (above) revealed by Letterboxd.

Invite audiences to join Paul Hackett (a brilliant Griffin Dunne) on the wildest night of his life in this underrated, axiety-ridden tale of mistaken identity. With scene-stealing performances from Rosanna Arquette, Teri Garr, Catherine O’Hara, and John Heard, this free-for-all odyssey set in the heart of SoHo sees New York's own Scorsese take a darkly comic look at his favourite city; a film that energised him during a tumultuous period in his career.

Hot off the success of the Oscar®-nominated Killers of the Flower Moon, alongside an Honorary Golden Bear for the filmmaker, there has never been a better time to bring more Marty back to the big screen. Make it a 'Scorseseason' with fresh marketing assets available for director-approved 4K restorations of Raging Bull and The Age of Innocence – alongside Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, Casino, The King of Comedy, The Last Waltz (4K Restoration) and many more.

Get it touch to book After Hours now!

Presented by Park Circus. Approved by editor Thelma Schoonmaker, this new digital master from The Criterion Collection was created from the 35mm original camera negative, which was scanned in 4K resolution on a Lasergraphics Director film scanner. Director Martin Scorsese's personal 35mm print was used as colour reference. The original monaural soundtrack was remastered from the magnetic track.

To celebrate its 30th anniversary, sink your teeth into a brand new DCP of Neil Jordan's Interview with the Vampire – back on the big screen from 16 February 2024 as the perfect counter-programming option for Valentine's weekend.

Supported by a 30th anniversary poster (above), this sumptuous adaptation of the Anne Rice best-selling novel of the same name boasts a superstar cast of Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas, Stephen Rea, Christian Slater, and Kirsten Dunst.

For audiences that don't go in for feel-good rom-coms, offer the gift of eternal life this Valentine's. With the hit AMC TV show also returning for a second season, everlasting life has never looked so appealing...

Get it touch to book a fang-tastic screening now!

To celebrate its 90th anniversary, Frank Capra's legendary screwball romantic comedy It Happened One Night warms up big screens across the UK and Ireland from 9 February 2024 for Valentine's Day – supported by the first of two brand new posters (the first of which was exclusively revealed across social media by Time Out) and trailer (above, revealed by Criterion Daily alongside the second poster).

Lovingly restored in 4K, treat audiences to a date to remember with this timeless romantic road-trip – starring Clark Gable as a rogue reporter and Claudette Colbert as a runaway bride.

2024 also marks 100 years of Columbia Pictures. 

The first film to sweep all five major Oscar® categories ten years after the studio's inception, It Happened One Night makes for the perfect choice to kick-off centenary celebrations throughout 2024, with further activity to be announced.

Get in touch to book while love is in the air and stay tuned for more news of additional Valentine's re-releases, including 10 Things I Hate About You (25th anniversary), Interview with the Vampire (30th anniversary, new DCP) and One From The Heart: Reprise (4K restoration).

Get in touch to make it happen all over again!

Ahead of Lunar New Year, we're is proud to be bringing Channel 4's Ping Pong back to the big screen. To celebrate the re-release, Katie Smith-Wong takes us back to London's Chinatown in the '80s in search of the cross-cultural legacy behind a pioneering British-Chinese film.

A quirky combination of noir, comedy and drama, Po-Chih Leong’s Ping Pong quietly holds a number of firsts in British filmmaking. It is the first film to be shot in London’s iconic Chinatown. It is the first film shot in the UK by British-born Chinese director Leong (whose previous projects were based in Hong Kong). Lastly, it is the first British-Chinese production. Despite its ground-breaking status in British cinema and premiering at the 1986 Venice Film Festival, Ping Pong seems to have faded into the background - but there is no reason why it should stay there.

The beauty of Ping Pong lies is its depiction of a perspective on Asian culture through a Westerner’s eyes - in this case, an unlikely protagonist in the form of law student Elaine Choi. Played by Lucy Sheen (in her debut role - marking another first), Elaine may be a Chinese woman having immigrated from Macau when she was seven, but when she is tasked with executing the will of the late restaurateur Sam Wong, her dilemma is immediate - it is a will that she, in her own words, “cannot read”. From the outset, her lack of familiarity with the customs and language of her homeland not only ostracises her from the Wong family but also draws attention to the film’s prominent theme of cultural identity.  

Set in the hubbub of Chinatown, the film sees Elaine bouncing between each member of the Wong family like the eponymous ping-pong ball in her quest to validate Sam’s will. Her intrepid quest sees her act as a reluctant middle-woman between each relative yet exposes her to the patriarchal stance of a culture unfamiliar to her.

The spectrum of approaches towards Chinese culture highlights the diverse Chinese diaspora in London. While more recent Asian-led narratives such as Crazy Rich Asians and Return to Seoul integrate a “fish out of water” angle as a key plot element, Ping Pong brings a refreshing honesty to London’s British Chinese citizens. No-one is subjected to sinophobic treatment while representing different working classes, so Leong builds a world where Chinese people are an integral part of British society. However, the director goes a step further to boldly show that even excessive gamblers and bootleg video sellers are part of this world, bringing to light parts of the culture that others may want to hide while others cannot ignore.

Meanwhile, the cultural clash between East and West is personified by Sam Wong’s sons, with the eldest Michael (David Yip) now bearing the responsibility of being the head of the Wongs. While he and brother Alan (Ric Young) have reaped the benefits of private education and a comfortable lifestyle, they have steered away from convention, their aforementioned responsibilities, and more specifically, their elders, for a Western way of life. Michael refuses to take over his father’s traditional Chinese restaurant to run an upscale Italian eatery, while Alan is expecting a baby with his Caucasian wife. Their quiet defiance to their father’s wishes contrast with their grieving mother and hardworking sister and brother-in-law, who remain faithful to Sam’s wishes as per the Chinese tradition of filial piety. 

Despite the underlying patriarchal stance of the film, Leong also uses Ping Pong to distinguish why Elaine’s presence is essential in both the narrative and among the ensemble of eclectic characters. Her fluency in English allows her clients to better understand the British legal system, her straightforward demeanour provides stability among the warring Wongs, yet she avoids caving into racial stereotypes of yesteryear. Sheen’s portrayal of a modern British-Chinese woman allows a more seamless assimilation of such characters into British media as resonate British-Chinese characters in the 1980s was unheard of - Yip himself became the first Asian male lead of a British TV show only a few years before the release of Ping Pong with TV drama The Chinese Detective - so it can be easy to disregard Sheen’s performance as somewhat conventional, when it is actually disruptive.

But despite Leong’s seminal work, Ping Pong has faded into obscurity and with it, so has a prime opportunity to promote diversity in British filmmaking. As we now see Asian stars taking over Hollywood in both acting and filmmaking roles, the UK film industry is always one step behind in recognising diverse talent. In addition, notable British film award ceremonies have been criticised for not awarding major prizes to nominees of colour (where The Banshees of Inishiren, Tár, and All Quiet on the Western Front were awarded over eventual Academy Award® winner Everything Everywhere All at Once). This points to the idea that Asians have never felt represented in a country that, according to the 2021 Census, 445,646 Chinese people call home – but Ping Pong shows that British-Chinese people do belong.

Ping Pong is back in cinemas across the UK and Ireland from 9 February in time for Lunar New Year. Find a screening here or get in touch for theatrical bookings.

Katie Smith-Wong is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved freelance writer and review editor at Flickfeast. Find her on X (formerly Twitter): @KatieSmithWong.

To celebrate Lunar New Year (10 February), Po-Chih Leong's groundbreaking Ping Pong is now available to book in DCP for the first time ever and will return to cinemas across the UK and Ireland from 9 February 2024 – supported by brand new artwork by Shipei Wang.

The first feature film by a Chinese British director, this madcap 80s mystery set in the heart of London's busy Chinatown was a landmark on its release – but has since been largely overlooked. Katie Smith-Wong Illuminates the film’s legacy in newly-commissioned programme notes, available soon.

Starring a brilliant Lucy Sheen as a young law student executing the rather tricky will of a wealthy restauranteur found dead in a Soho phone box, there has never been a better time to bring this triumphant examination of Chinese diaspora in Britain back to the big screen.

Ping Pong is back at the Prince Charles Cinema, Showroom Sheffield, Lewes Depot, King Street Cinema, HOME Manchester, and more! Find screenings here.

Request a screener or book now!

Park Circus is proud to be bringing the breathtaking new 4K restoration of Days of Heaven to cinemas across the UK and Ireland from 2 February. Ahead of his new book The Magic Hours: The Films and Hidden Life of Terrence Malick coming later this year, John Bleasdale takes us back to that Texas farmstead in 1917 to explore what makes Days of Heaven worth reliving.

If ever a film demanded to be seen at the cinema in all its glory, that film is Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven. My first viewing of the film, unfortunately, wasn’t at the cinema. I saw it on a small television as part of a Channel 4 film season in the early '90s. It was still wonderful. But seeing the 4K restoration in a cinema at the Venice Film Festival was like seeing the film for the first time. In a world of franchises and "content", it is heartening and awe-inspiring to be transported back to this rare work of art that pushes the possibilities of film. 

When it was originally released in 1978, Days of Heaven gained mainly positive reviews, but with reservations stemming from the idea that maybe the film was, in fact, too beautiful. Pauline Kael dismissed the film, calling it: “an empty Christmas tree: you can hang all your dumb metaphors on it”, as ever reviewing the audience as much as the film. And yet Malick won Best Director at Cannes and the film was nominated for four Oscars, winning a statuette for cinematographer Nestor Almendros, who stated in his acceptance speech: “every image is Terry’s”. 

Its reputation has only grown over the subsequent four decades and Days of Heaven is now rightly considered a masterpiece of American cinema. The actors who are now familiar to us - Richard Gere, playwright Sam Shepherd, Brooke Adams, and cult figure Linda Manz - were all appearing in their first major roles. The story is that rare thing: an original work. The year is 1916 and, having accidentally killed a man, Bill (Gere), his sister Linda (Manz), and lover Abby (Adams) flee to the country. Here, Billy and Abby join immigrant farmworkers, on a spread owned by one of the richest landowners in Texas (Shepherd). They pretend to be brother and sister and – on discovering the farmer has a fatal illness – Bill encourages Abby to favour the farmer’s growing attentions. The love triangle plays out like a Greek tragedy, narrated by Linda with a down-to-earth poetry – “Give him a flower, he'd keep it for life” – as the seasons pass and the land and skies hold the luminous beauty of the dying light. 

But this masterpiece almost never happened. Following the release of his debut film Badlands in 1974, Malick talked to reporters about making a western “without cowboys”.  Other scripts were worked on, including one that would appear decades later as The New World. Days of Heaven, however, had been gestating since Malick, as a schoolboy, had taken to working his summer holidays, following the harvest through Texas and mixing with the farmworkers. Having recruited producer Bert Schneider, Malick’s first setback occurred when he couldn’t secure John Travolta, then a TV star, for the lead role. He considered abandoning the project altogether.

Forging ahead, time and money were in short supply. Jack Fisk – Malick’s friend and lifelong collaborator from Badlands on – built the farmhouse from scratch in a matter of weeks. The difficulties became almost comical. Richard Gere refused to have his hair cut, hence the flowing disco locks in 1916. It snowed in July. The cinematographer – Nestor Almendros – was going blind. Malick hated his own script and was cutting so many lines that the film, when he got into the editing suite, no longer made sense.  Stuck in a freezing town with one bar, the crew began calling the film “Nights of Hell”. 

But these challenges contributed to what ended up making the film great. In Almendros who had worked previously with François Truffaut and Eric Rohmer, Malick found a perfect collaborator who shared his unconventional views on natural light and shooting during the magic hour – the twenty minutes after sunset – when “warehouses become cathedrals” Malick would say, paraphrasing the painter Whistler. It gave the images an otherworldly beauty that contrasted sharply with the hardship and poverty of the farmworkers, as well as the loneliness of the farmer (Almendros would leave the shoot before it was finished due to a work commitment with Truffaut and was replaced by Haskell Wexler).

The freezing weather showed the hardship the itinerant workers suffered. The lack of dialogue allowed Ennio Morricone’s score to come to the fore along with Malick’s choice of Camille Saint-Saëns’ music. With most of the script gone, Malick needed a voiceover to tell the story and found the heart of the film at the eleventh hour in Linda Manz. He would play the fifteen year-old a reel of film and then have her describe what she saw in her own words: “She was in love with the farmer”. 

For all the talk about beauty, it shouldn’t be forgotten that this is a love story and a tragedy. And it’s that rare tragedy in which there is generosity and empathy: the tragedy of a small group of people who are all incompatibly right. The poor do what they can with the opportunities that arise and the rich are walled in by their own fears. There’s injustice and a World War in Europe, and a natural world at once richly beautiful but also apparently indifferent, with the exception of a plague of locusts arriving to sweep the fields with rage. 

Of all the viewers who watched back in 1978, the most influential had to be Charles Bluhdorn, the head of Paramount Pictures. Impressed with Malick, he offered him the proverbial blank cheque for his next picture. With two veritable masterpieces under his belt and the resources of a major studio at his back, what happened next was surprising and yet consistent in retrospect with the conjuror of the magic hour: Malick vanished.

The subsequent twenty years of silence saw Malick transformed into a legendary figure. Many wondered at the reasons for his disappearance. Was he teaching at the Sorbonne? Had he lost his mind to drugs? One possible explanation could be that what would come to be known as Malickian cinema – the light, the voiceover, the music, the detailed observation of the natural world – had already reached its apotheosis in Days of Heaven. Anyone who makes something so wonderful fully deserves a twenty year break.

Days of Heaven returns to cinemas from 2 February 2024. The Magic Hours: The Films and Hidden Life of Terrence Malick is published by University Press of Kentucky on 12 March 2024.

John Bleasdale is a film critic and writer published in Variety, Sight & Sound, The Guardian, and more. He has contributed to two previous books, Terrence Malick: Film and Philosophy and The Way of Nature and the Way of Grace. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter): @drjonty.

Supervised by Francis Ford Coppola, the dazzling new 4K restoration of One from the Heart will release in cinemas across the UK and Ireland from 16 February 2024 (Valentine's weekend) in a new Reprise cut – supported by fresh artwork and trailer revealed this week.

Starring Frederic Forrest, Teri Garr, Raúl Julia, Nastassja Kinski, Lainie Kazan, and Harry Dean Stanton, One from the Heart: Reprise boasts never-before-seen footage, new titles from the original camera negative and over 19 minutes of footage replaced with new source scans – alongside an iconic Oscar®-nominated soundtrack by Tom Waits and choreography by none other than Gene Kelly.

Heralding a new birth of musical cinema at the dawn of the 1980s and a touchstone to the likes of Baz Luhrmann, Damien Chazelle, and most recently, cinematographer Lawrence Sher's work on Joker: Folie à Deux, this "grand tribute to the power of love" (Time Out) is the perfect choice for Valentine's weekend, with previews available. 

“I’ve always loved ‘One from the Heart,’ despite the disruption it caused in my dreams for American Zoetrope. However, there is magic in cinema and while preparing this film for 4K, it was apparent I could refine the story. This new version is an improvement in many ways and I am proud of what was achieved with ‘One from the Heart: Reprise.’” – Francis Ford Coppola

Get in touch and book a big screen encore now!

Presented by Park Circus. The restoration, supervised by Francis Ford Coppola, was made in 4K by American Zoetrope and Roundabout Entertainment in the US. The 4K scans were lifted from the original camera negative, and great efforts have been made to add thirteen minutes of original camera negative, restoring opticals and dupe negative. The restoration was approved by Francis Ford Coppola himself, as six minutes of IP were added to replace the original negative that was thought to be destroyed in a flood in Rome where the negative was kept. 

We're delighted to announce that Park Circus will present two world premiere restorations in this year's prestigious Berlinale Classics programme, including Paramount Pictures' dazzling new 4K restoration of John Schlesinger's The Day of the Locust, alongside a stellar new 4K restoration of Martin Scorsese's After Hours from Warner Bros. and The Criterion Collection. A UK/Eire and international theatrical re-release of After Hours is set to follow in March 2024, courtesy of Park Circus.

Meet us at EFM! 

We're also excited be returning to European Film Market in February and would love to see you! Whether it's big screen classics, contemporary hits, or home entertainment availabilities, come and chat to us about our extensive range of licensing options.

Please get in touch to arrange a meeting: info@parkcircus.com.

Following its premiere at Venice Film Festival in September, Park Circus is proud to be bringing the breathtaking new 4K restoration of Days of Heaven to cinemas across the UK and Ireland from 2 February 2024 – supported by gorgeous new artwork (exclusively revealed by Letterboxd) and trailer.

Shot mostly during the magic hour, Terrence Malick's rapturous tale of love and deceit is widely renowned as one of the most visually arresting films of the last century. Now, following a beautiful 4K restoration, Nestor Almendros's transcendent, Oscar®-winning cinematography has truly never looked better

Programmers! Bring Days of Heaven back to your big screen.

New 4K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative undertaken by The Criterion Collection, with additional support of Paramount Pictures and Park Circus. Supervised and approved by director Terrence Malick, camera operator John Bailey and editor Billy Weber.