Otway the Movie – premiere October 2012
Aylesbury Microstar John Otway gets some unusual birthday presents. He asked his fans (who had previously clubbed together to buy him a Theremin) to give him a second hit record for his 50th birthday and that was exactly what he got. In 2012, John hit 60, so he decided it was time he became a movie star .On 7th October 2012, he hired The Odeon, Leicester Square for the premiere of his film, Otway The Movie and what a blockbuster it proved to be!

A weekend of utter silliness was kicked off by two performances at the Leicester Square Theatre on Friday 5th, with Wild Willy Barrett, and Saturday 6th with the Big Band. The day of the 7th dawned clear and sunny - and a handful of us was outside the Odeon to see it, waiting for the crew take down the posters promoting Liam Neeson in 'Taken 2' and put up the special ones for the Otway the Movie. They were probably puzzled as to why anyone wanted to stand outside the cinema at 0700 to take photos of them doing the job.

The film itself? It was much as expected - hilarious! The ending was shot while the posters were going up, then later that morning, as the audience arrived to tread the Odeon red carpet and Otway had his moment of glory on the balcony. Everyone in the theatre was given an Otway mask to wear for the final scene. We hear they have been appearing on ebay as collector's items!

Many congratulations to everyone who worked so hard on the production, especially the editors who managed to get the last footage ready while the screening was going on. They delivered a surprise ending, which even Otway himself hadn't seen!

Radio London's special photo-report on the Saturday gig, premiere and after-show party, is here.

Chris and our friend Tony were also seen on Channel 4 News as they trod the red carpet.

Post-Premiere Newsletter from the Movie Team
Wow!
It's taken a couple of weeks, but we have just started to recover from the shockwave that took over Leicester Square.

What a Fantastic Weekend
The two shows at the Leicester Square Theatre, the Premiere itself and the presentation of the OTWAYs at the Aftershow Party went better than we could have possibly imagined.
 
And wow, what an impact - We made National News on Channel 4!
 
Even the scary bit - which was making the Premiere itself the climax of the Movie - worked a treat. The weather was kind to us too. The Movie would not have ended quite so well if the high spot of my career had been a thousand drenched fans huddled around a saturated red carpet.
 
If you haven't seen them yet, go to otwaythemovie.com and take look at the fantastic photos and videos from the day.
 
We've been delighted with the response to the Movie itself, and had a lot of great reviews. One that we really think sums it all up can be found here.

IMDB
The Internet bible for Movies is IMDB. If you check out 'Otway: The Movie' you will notice that it is one of the most highly-rated films in the history of cinema! You can rate it and add your own review. 
 
So, Where Next?
Before the DVD release, we think it would be a grand idea to light up a few of the major national and international film festivals with 'Rock and Roll's Greatest Failure.

Thank You
Finally, John himself would like to add the same two words to every one of you - "Thank You".
 
He really did have one of the greatest days of his life.

Best Wishes, The Movie Team

Otway & Barrett Tour 2013
Before we embark on the long road to the Oscar nominations there's an exciting short tour with Wild Willy Barrett, including a re-visit to Leicester Square Theatre for the main London date - it's a great place to play that will bring back some wonderful memories.

Otway the Movie: The Road to the Oscars
In a brave, and some would say foolhardy or ot -way, we aim to take Rock and Roll's Greatest Failure: Otway the Movie to a number of international film festivals with a Bafta and Oscar launch at Cannes Film festival in May. In order to be eligible for the academy awards and other international film festivals, the film cannot have been broadcast on television or released on DVD. We are planning to make a DVD of the film, but this will have to be after we have collected all our awards!