Tim Richards, founder and CEO of Vue Entertainment, Europe’s largest privately owned cinema operator, has said that the cinema exhibition business is poised for a strong comeback after weathering pandemic disruptions and Hollywood strikes. Richards also delivered the keynote address at the European Digital Cinema Forum (Edcf) Convention on Wednesday.

“Ten years from now we’re going to look back at [the upcoming] ‘Avatar’ and think that was the end and the beginning,” Richards told Variety. “The end of everything that the industry has been through in the last five years, with the pandemic and the strikes, and the beginning of a new era of film.”

While acknowledging that the U.K. box office remained flat in 2024 compared to 2023, Richards pointed to lingering effects from the Hollywood strikes as the primary culprit rather than any fundamental shift in audience behavior.

“What we’re seeing is the aftermath of the strikes,” Richards said.