The film premiere is an event steeped in history. As long as there have been movies, there have been star-studded movie premieres, and major events are still held across the world today.
The home of the film premiere in London is the prestigious Leicester Square, which packs in film fans for a big premiere pretty much every single week. In this article, we take a look at the biggest film premieres to have taken place in history.
Mamma Mia
Film premieres in London can sometimes be held in conjunction with a film festival, or even have the Royal stamp of approval, as was the case with the premiere of Mamma Mia back in 2008. The film attracted vast audiences, and even Prince Charles himself. The film, which starred the likes of Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan, was based on the hit Abba musical went on to attract over $600 million across the world, and it still delights fans on screen and stage to this very day.
Avatar
Officially the biggest film of all time, Avatar was also one of the biggest premieres ever to be held in London’s Leicester Square. The film is directed by James Cameron and stars Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver and Zoe Saldana. The cast and the director turned out for the film’s premiere in London back in 2009, as did hundreds and hundreds of movie fans to witness film history.
Titanic
Avatar wasn’t James Cameron’s biggest film premiere though. That honour goes to his 1997 multiple Oscar winner Titanic, which starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. The film is still the second biggest of all-time and packed in fans at premieres on both sides of the Atlantic. Massive wall which included some serious plasma panel hire screen were needed to be erected at the film’s London premiere to hold the fans as so many turned up to hopefully get a glimpse of Kate and Leo!
SPECTRE
Easily one of the biggest premieres ever to take place in London didn’t actually take place in Leicester Square. In 2015 movie fans headed slightly west to the prestigious Royal Albert Hall for the premiere of the 24th James Bond film, SPECTRE. Daniel Craig turned up on the red carpet with his co-stars to celebrate the new release with major roads cut off all of the way around the circular venue.
Felix Manalo
If you think that all of those films were big, how about this one, which we’re sure you would have never heard of. Despite its obscurity in the western world, Joe Lamangan’s Felix Manalo, which was released in 2015, attracted over 43,000 people to its premiere at The Philippine Arena, in Cuidad de Victoria, Philippines. This feat scored the event a place in the Guinness Book Of Records and we’re sure that its feat will not be beaten for years.
