The 28-page monthly magazine will be offered free, from the 16 July, with The Sun on Saturday and will also be available on thesun.co.uk. The magazine, distributed nationwide with the newspaper, will have a circulation of 2.4 million copies, making it the biggest film magazine in the UK, says News UK.
Popcorn will be helmed by The Sun's film editor, Jamie East, and will be produced by the team that created Fabulous Magazine. Jamie’s vision is to position Popcorn as the go-to monthly for all of the family, on all things Hollywood, equipping readers with everything they need to know about watching films at the cinema, as well as at home. The Popcorn franchise will feature everything from irreverent and witty trailer captions to more thoughtful analysis on upcoming films.
Sky Cinema, the new home for Sky Movies in the UK and Ireland, will be the lead sponsor for Popcorn, through a partnership brokered by MediaCom. The partnership will position Sky Cinema as the undisputed ambassador of quality, cinematic viewing in the home.
Sky Cinema’s sponsorship gives them front cover branding, display advertising and sponsored editorial within the magazine as well as a takeover of The Sun online’s dedicated film channel. The magazine will also feature a special section called Microwave Popcorn (found in the centre of the magazine) that gives readers their definitive guide, salty or sweet, to home cinematic viewing with Sky Cinema. Furthermore, Popcorn online will host daily bite-sized film content to bring readers up-to-speed on the latest film news and trailers.
“Research found that around 75% of our readers regularly watch movies both at the cinema and at home, love reading about them in the paper and many suggested that paid-for film content really enhanced their experience and was actively welcomed. This is where the idea for Popcorn was born. We wanted to create a brand new free film franchise for all Sun readers that could also sit online as a dedicated film channel.” said Jamie East, Film Editor at The Sun.
“The partnership with Sky could not have been better timed with the rebrand of Sky Movies as Sky Cinema. Popcorn will help to position Sky Cinema as ‘the home of cinematic viewing’ while helping News UK bring quality, but accessible film content to our readers.” said James Hawker, Director of Entertainment, Telecommunications & Broadcast, News UK.
