One of the country’s biggest cinema operators is to spend £60 million over 18 months on improving its sites, including installing more reclining seats.
Vue International will unveil the plans today as it prepares to reopen on May 17.
Tim Richards, its founder and chief executive, said that cinema could be heading for a “new golden age” thanks to a strong slate of upcoming releases as a result of films being put on hold over the past year, including No Time To Die, the latest Bond film.
Vue is Britain’s third biggest cinema operator, with 225 sites in nine countries, including 91 in Britain. It is controlled by Omers and the Alberta Investment Management Corporation, two Canadian investment firms.
At present Vue plans to reopen its British cinemas on May 17, probably with a 50 per cent occupancy until restrictions are fully lifted on June 21.
Richards said that after “a tough 15 months it’s going to take the company a year or two to recover”. As cinemas closed in lockdowns, big studios have streamed some of their films for home viewing and some analysts suggest that this could become more widespread, threatening the period of exclusivity for cinemas to show releases known as the “theatrical window”.
However, Richards, 62, said: “There is a pent-up demand to leave the home like never before. Consumer surveys are showing cinemas in the top three of things people want to do [after] the pandemic.”
He cited evidence from markets that had reopened, with cinemas in China, Japan and Australia all breaking box-office records. He was also confident that a deal on a theatrical window of between 31 and 45 days was likely.
