Peter Dinklage film “Rememory” lands on Google Play before cinemas

Thomas McMullan Read more August 15, 2017

With Game of Thrones’ winding towards its final act, the show’s actors are greasing themselves up for careers beyond HBO’s walls. Peter Dinklage’s latest foray into film, sci-fi mystery Rememory, is coming next week – and it will be the first film to hit Google Play for free before reaching cinemas.

Rememory – also starring Julia Ormond and the late Anton Yelchin – is set in a world where technology can extract and replay a person’s memories. The person who invented this device is killed, and Dinklage’s character, trauma victim Sam Bloom, sets about solving the mystery of who-dun-the-crime.

It may have an immediately forgettable name, and early reviews have been far from kind, but Dinklage is said to bring conviction to the role. The idea of technology’s ability to distort and undermine memories is also an interesting strand of thought, although it looks like Rememory doesn’t pull off its grand themes.

A number of films have previously been released straight to Google Play (perhaps the modern equivalent of straight to video), but this is the first one to be put up on Google’s store for free before being released in cinemas. The Google Play logo is also prominent within the trailer, so it would seem the company managed to negotiate an early release on its platform.

While Rememory alone isn’t likely to have Netflix shaking in its boots, it does show that Google has similar ambitions to host exclusive films. Netflix Original Movies, for comparison, has produced a number of films, including Beasts of No Nation and Okja, which was the company’s Cannes debut. YouTube will also be paying attention to Rememory’s performance, as its subscription service YouTube Red also offers original movies and TV shows.

Rememory is out for free on Google Play on 24 August, with a release in cinemas on 8 September.