First Look image released from Save The Cinema, a Sky Original

Sky today unveils a First Look image of Samantha Morton in the Sky Original film Save The Cinema. Inspired by the extraordinary real-life events sparked by tenacious hairdresser Liz Evans (Samantha Morton), Save The Cinema illustrates how the resolve of a small Welsh town, inspired by the magic of cinema, was able to bring Tinseltown to their doorstep.

The sleepy town of Carmarthen in Wales is not exactly the first place to spring to mind when thinking of Hollywood blockbusters. But this changed in 1993 when the town council made the unwelcome announcement that The Lyric Theatre – the town’s much-loved but financially stricken cinema – would be demolished so a shopping centre could be built in its place.  

It’s down to Liz Evans, hairdresser and linchpin to the local community, to stand up for the ailing cinema and stop the bulldozers. As she and her friends barricade themselves in the theatre, she reaches out to postman turned town councillor Richard (Tom Felton) for help - and they come up with a grand plan.  

To revitalise the cinema and stop the council taking the heart of the community away, a desperate Liz persuades Richard to write to Hollywood to ask for a helping hand. One late night phone call later and one of Hollywood’s most legendary filmmakers throws The Lyric a monster-sized lifeline and a premiere Carmarthen will never forget. But will this be enough to save The Lyric?  

Save The Cinema features an all-star cast including Samantha Morton (Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them), Tom Felton (Harry Potter), Jonathan Pryce (The Two Popes), Adeel Akhtar (Enola Holmes), Erin Richards (Gotham), Owain Yeoman (Emergence), Susan Wokoma (Enola Holmes), Colm Meaney (Gangs Of London), Rhod Gilbert (Have I Got News For You) and Keith Allen (Kingsman: The Golden Circle).  The film is directed by Sara Sugarman (Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen) and co-produced by Sky and Future Artists Entertainment in association with Head Gear Films, LipSync and Ffilm Cymru.  

Save The Cinema, a Sky Original will be released on Sky Cinema and in cinemas from 14 January 2022. The film will also be available on streaming service NOW via the Sky Cinema Membership.  

For further information please contact:

DDA

Vicky Tupper: Vicky.Tupper@ddapr.com

Naomi Meanwell: Naomi.Meanwell@ddapr.com

Louisa Facey: Louisa.Facey@ddapr.com

About Sky

Sky is Europe’s leading media and entertainment company and is proud to be part of Comcast Corporation. Across six countries, we connect our 23.4 million customers to the best entertainment, sports, news and arts including our own award-winning original content.

Our technology, including the market leading Sky Q, connects people to everything they love – with entertainment from Sky TV, Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video and BBC iPlayer, and apps like Spotify, YouTube, BBC Sounds, Highbrow, Peloton, Fiit, and more, in one place, easy. Our streaming service NOW brings viewers all the enjoyment of Sky with the flexibility of a contract-free service. Through our new B2B broadband provider, Sky Connect, we offer superfast broadband with business-grade 4G back-up to small businesses in the UK.

Building on the success of Sky Originals like Chernobyl, Gangs of London and Brassic, we are doubling our investment in original content by 2024 through Sky Studios. Sky News provides impartial and trustworthy journalism for free, Sky Arts is the UK’s only dedicated free-to-air arts channel making the arts accessible for everyone and Sky Sports, our leading sports broadcasting service, brings customers some of the biggest and best global sporting events from the Premier League to Formula 1 and everything in-between. Our new TV and movie studio, Sky Studios Elstree, which will open in 2022, is expected to create over 2,000 new jobs and generate an additional £3 billion of production investment in the UK over the first five years.

We believe that we can be a force for good in the communities in which we operate. We’re committed to being Europe’s first net zero carbon entertainment company by 2030 and we’re proud to be a Principal Partner and Media Partner of COP26. We take pride in our approach to diversity and inclusion: we’ve been recognised by The Times and Stonewall for our commitment to diversity and we’ve set ambitious 2025 targets to continue to increase diversity and representation.  We’re also committed to investing £30million across our markets over three years to improve our approach to diversity and inclusion, and to tackle racial injustice.

About Future Artists Entertainment Limited

London based Future Artists Entertainment Limited is the newest name in British film making; a multi-faceted, forward thinking entertainment company centred around the ever-changing face of youth culture, music and British Culture.

Operating in all areas of entertainment, Production, International Sales, talent management, branding, creative rights ownership and management, Future Artists Entertainment has offices in LA and London and is in the forefront of innovating, development and production of idea to screen.

Future Artists Entertainment Limited has recently completed production on Sky Original, TWIST featuring Sir Michael Caine, Lena Headey and Rita Ora, and have a further three films in Pre-Production for 2021 release.

About Ffilm Cymru Wales

Ffilm Cymru Wales is the development agency for Welsh film. We are dedicated to advancing and sustaining a strong film industry for Wales; one that we can all be proud to call our own. We do this by providing funding and training to emerging and established Welsh filmmakers, offering exciting cinematic experiences to audiences across Wales, engaging people of all ages and abilities in creative learning, and developing new skills and career paths through a range of training programmes.

For more information please see www.ffilmcymruwales.com