Big screen classics to make a return

By Lynn Crombie, CNN.com writer

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Film classics including Some Like it Hot and Breakfast at Tiffany's are set to return to the big screen as part of a two-year project to bring the movies to a new generation of cinema-goers.

The British Film Institute (BFI) is to create new prints of the films which will then be re-released across the United Kingdom.

The Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn classics will be revived in the project's first year, along with Don't Look Now starring Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie, and Alfie -- the film which propelled Sir Michael Caine to international stardom.

BFI Director Jon Teckman said the four titles chosen were among those most frequently requested by audiences at the BFI National Film Theatre as well as by festival programmers around the world.

"There is no better time than this. The cinema-going audience is growing every year with the over-35s the fastest growing audience sector," he said at the project launch in London on Wednesday.

But copies of many 20th Century productions no longer exist and in other cases the quality of the film print is so poor they cannot be used.

"Film naturally deteriorates over time, especially if heavily used," added Teckman.

Each of the films will have a new premiere with the first -- Some Like it Hot -- opening with a gala screening in London on October 5 and at selected cinemas from October 20.

This will be followed by Breakfast at Tiffany's which will be released on Valentine's Day next year -- 40 years to the day since its first release.

Ian Watmore, of Anderson Consulting, which is backing the project, said: "With film more popular than ever in the UK today, we are delighted to be associated with an industry which has innovation, creativity and technology at its core."

A further four films will be chosen during the second year of the project.

The BFI is confident that the re-releases will be welcomed by the public following the successful re-release in the 1990s of The Exorcist, Grease and the original Star Wars trilogy.

It said that while the blockbusters were vital for attracting large audiences, the top 20 alone could not sustain the industry and a greater range of product was needed.

*Photographs from Alfie and Breakfast at Tiffany's courtesy of The British Film Institute.

From CNN.com Europe

The British Film Institute
Andersen Consulting Home Page
Some Like It Hot
Classic Movies
The Breakfast at Tiffany's
Alfie
Don't Look Now

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