Green Day Concert Film Marks First European Simultaneous Theatrical Delivery to Cinemas

1:19 PM 11/15/2010 by Stuart Kemp

LONDON — A concert movie from U.S. indie rock combo Green Day pogoed into movie theaters across Europe via satellite in what is claimed to be an European first for simultaneous digital satellite delivery.

The theatrical release of Green Day: 21st Century Breakdown, marks the first time cinemas have been able to receive a film inmultiple countries simultaneously without the need for the transportation of a physical print, according to digital distributor Arts Alliance Media (AAM). The movie is being beamed out in conjunction with Cinema Events, MTV World Stage, Warner Bros. Records and Reprise Records.

AAM, in collaboration with partners Arqiva Broadcast & Media, transmitted the feature to over 50 sites in the U.K. and France, including theaters in the U.K.’s second largest chain Cineworld.

“Being able to transmit films by satellite is not only technologically exciting, it’s also tremendously efficient, and we’re thrilled to be the first to achieve this milestone. Being able to deliver the film DCP (Digital Cinema Package) to the cinema for it to be available for every screen without the need of a physical DCP hard drive saves both the distributor and the exhibitor time, effort and money,” AAM content and distributor services director Victoria Galloway said.

AAM first used satellite technology to transmit features two years ago, when the Palme D’Or winning film Entre Les Murs was sent to CGR Villenave d’Ornon in Bordeaux as a test transmission. The release of Green Day: 21st Century Breakdown marks the widest release to date in Europe to be sent to cinemas in this way.

Recorded by MTV at the OlympiaHalle in Munich, Germany during the band’s 21st Century Breakdown tour, the movie features hits including “21st Century Breakdown,” “Boulevard Of Broken Dreams” and “American Idiot.”