Point Break – finally coming to a cinema near you
Published November 1, 2024
You have probably heard the story of a courageous Johny Utah on a mission to infiltrate a gang of masked bank robbers, but have you heard the one about a courageous BFI programmer on a mission to bring one of world's most beloved action films back to the big screen?
It all started more than 10 years ago when Sophie Brown made it her life's mission to bring Kathryn Bigelow's surf classic back to cinemas. In an attempt to curate the perfect skateboarding/surf season in Brighton, Brown set out to acquire the rights to Point Break. Little did she know that she was heading down a road of rejection and disappointment (until now anyway).
Her journey began with the Independent Cinema Office, who directed her to 20th Century Fox, who directed her to Park Circus, who directed her to Warner Bros, who directed her to 20th Century Fox. Typically, when rights to a film lapse, they automatically go back to the original production company, which in this case was Largo. Unfortunately for Sophie, Largo went out of business in the 90s, and the company that acquired it's films no longer exists. Unaware that she was about to find this out the hard way, she phoned every phone number and emailed every email address, and was met with a string of mail-delivery-failure notices.
While most people would have ended their quest there, or ten rejections ago, Sophie never gave up hope. Five years later, she finally caught a wave. There was a rumour going around that a fellow programmer had secured the rights to Point Break through the Academy’s Margaret Herrick Library. She followed the trail that led to librarian and legend, Rachel Bernstein, who was able to uncover the last known owner of the rights to the film.
This was it! This is what she had been looking for! Sophie Brown went to programmer Paul Vickery, who had sort of been the Tyler to her Johnny throughout this process, and costed the project. Realising she too would have to rob a bank to fund a national tour of the film, Sophie settled on a modest two screenings at Prince Charles Cinema and BFI Southbank back in 2017.
As it turned out, 'Hollywood's nicest guy' Keanu Reeves, caught wind of the efforts Sophie had been making to bring the film back to UK cinemas and recorded a personal intro to play before the screenings.
While this in itself was a huge feat, Sophie dreamed of the day that independent cinemas across the UK could screen Point Break, and that day has finally come!
From Fri 08 Nov 2024, a brand-new, 4K restoration of Point Break will be available to cinemas across the UK, curtosy of BFI, and it's coming to Studio 74 as part of our Art of Action season!
Would this have all been possible without the groundwork from Sophie Brown those years ago? One thing is for sure, she may not have jumped out of a plane after a gang of robbers, but she is the hero of this story.
POINT BREAK (15)
Fri 08 Nov | 8.20pm
Dir. Kathryn Bigelow
1991 | 122 mins | US | English
Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Lori Petty, Gary Busey
Armed with only a surf-board and good intention, new FBI recruit, Johnny Utah is set his first undercover mission – to infiltrate a gang of masked ex-Presidents who are robbing banks across the west-coast.
Part of our Art of Action: Smash the Glass season celebrating the women who have advanced action cinema both on and off-screen. The season is supported by National Lottery and BFI Film Audience Network (FAN) with generous sponsorship from Packexe.
Read Sophie Brown's articles about the experience:
Point Break – not coming to a cinema near you! (2013)
My Point Break quest: “It was about us against the system” (2017)