Two months before its January 2010 UK release date, Peter Jackson’s new film The Lovely Bones will be shown at the 2009 Royal Film Performance in November.
The annual Royal Film Performance is the biggest fundraising event for Britain’s Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund, which aims to provide financial and practical assistance to anyone who has had at least two years in a paid position within the film or television industry.
The fund was first started in the 1920s, and added its first royal to the CTBF’s list of patrons in the 1930s. England’s royal family already had a long history of supporting the arts, with several ‘Royal Command Performances’ taking place each year. These were (and continue to be) occasions where the royal family has the privilege of private screenings of films or theatre performances they wish to see.
In 1946, the Royal Command Performance joined with the CTBF to premiere the first Royal Film Performance, showing the film A Matter of Life and Death. The tradition continued, and the Royal Film Performance now holds the distinction of being not only the largest fundraising even for the CTBF, but (supposedly) is also the only night of the year that Her Majesty the Queen goes to the cinema.
According to the official press release for the event, the film will be shown in London’s Leicester Square in late November, and several of the big-name stars of The Lovely Bones cast are expected to attend, along with members of the royal family.
It goes without saying that having a film selected for the Royal Film Performance is a pretty big honor for all involved in the film. For a film like The Lovely Bones, an adaptation of a best-selling novel, that is already expected to do well at the box office, being selected for the Royal Film Performance will serve to heighten anticipation for the film’s December release.
