Interesting… by the way Yahoo finance seems to repost a lot and this is actually a motley fool article
£7 sp in 2017. You have to wonder what the relaunch will entail. Everyman are an excellent company for example, higher ticket price but sofas and hot food table/seat service. The picturehouse company is an attempt at this more boutique/homey approach by cineworld, I’d expect this to be a focus.
I think a socially distant opening in March isn’t out of the question. Provided they can get some new films on they can cover overheads to keep themselves ticking over
1 Like
I realise it won’t turn the business around, but I’m sure people would head to the cinema to watch anything at the moment. Haha
On a serious note, I actually doubt it, worry of the VID, built up anxiety from isolation, lack of funds from the pandemic, ease of Netflix, cost of popcorn… we’re gonna need the next notebook or avatar 2 to turn this ship! 
1 Like
Going to the cinema has had its day. It was overpriced and not convenient. I’d not been for many years anyway. I don’t miss the long adverts, long queues, expensive sweets. Its to easy to stream a film at home on my own sofa, rather large flat screen tv and reasonably priced snacks.
3 Likes
Don’t underestimate people’s needs to be sociable. I can’t wait to get back to the cinema.
I’d happily have paid £15 to see Wonder Woman at the cinema for a night out… I can’t bring myself to rent it on Amazon for that same price, despite the convenience.
I want the experience
12 Likes
Part of the problem there is the obscene cost of £15 for renting it!!
1 Like
I guess technically it’s the same process for the distribution company; they send the film down the phone line to cinemas so they also send it down the line to home cinemas. Where you used to have projectionists you now have a hard drive and a person to turn the laptop on in the mornings and select a schedule.
There’s nothing like the entertainment of watching people sitting in the wrong seat get caught by the actual seat holder. You just can’t get that at home unless you let strangers in
3 Likes
I mean for £0.66 you can’t wrong, considering the fact it was between £5-7 at one point. May grab a couple of shares and just sit on them. I mean… the pandemic WILL eventually end and people are practically on their knees, itching to get outside, dressing up to take the bins out.
6 Likes
Im just not convinced by the future of cinemas, if they are to continue they will become very niche and even more expensive to make up shortfall in the numbers of attendees. For example, the Everyman cinemas of sofas and waitress service.
1 Like
I can’t believe that they still build cinemas which don’t have IMAX screens. If I’m going to the cinema then that’s the kind of experience I consider worth paying for. With modern home equipment, standard cinemas just don’t cut it… especially not with their stupid prices for food/drink. I blame the studios more than the cinema chains for the current pricing dynamic - it’s daft that movie studios will kill movie theatres.
2 Likes
Shame you can’t go to the Saturday mantinee for a £1 anymore. How times have changed since I was a kid!
1 Like
Imax is a wonderful little business. They basically invented the ‘big screen’ format (imax is short for “image maximum”) and made it proprietary - so if anyone uses it, Imax make a quick buck without doing any heavy lifting.
The real beauty of the business is that if you want to film in Imax - you need an Imax camera and if you want to show an imax film, you need an imax screen, projector, etc. Directors are adopting Imax more and more it seems due to the format’s beauty, e.g. “The Dark knight rises” was (partially) filmed in Imax. I believe it would be more if the cameras weren’t so damn expensive & heavy (virtually the weight of a small car, needs a crane to be used). The more filmakers that use Imax, the more cinemas will be compelled to; A nice little network effect going on there.
What’s more, it’s quite tricky & costly to rip out an Imax screen once you’ve put it in, meaning cinemas won’t adopt competitors in a hurry. It’s the same reason that elevator businesses (e.g. Kone oyj) are so strong.
Imax is something of a brand now too, people will pay more for a film/ticket with Imax stamped on it. In China, their key growth market, sometimes it’s a 100% markup.
So yeah, great business - notwithstanding risks around COVID, digital cinema, streaming, intellectual property, etc.
I don’t hold Imax, but am a cinephile and stockophile so had to give a shout out to them.
4 Likes
Love your username btw!
I’m not sure how exclusive imax is when most cinemas can accommodate 70mm projections. Ok I’ve seen maybe a handful over the years in Leicester Square but the cinematic widescreen experience certainly matches imax. Surely the screen size is the key rather than what’s projected onto it
Michael Bolton we’re really gonna need you to focus up.
1 Like
Last time I went to the cinema I distinctly remember it costing close to £60 all in for two people.
Granted there were two alcoholic beverages but even still…
Save yourself £15 its boring
Not commenting on Cineworld specifically, but I think cinemas will do well even with the rise of streaming. I’ve watched more films in 2020 than I have in any other year, as have lots of people given how well streaming services have done during lockdown. This has only deepened my appreciation for cinema, and I’m now more likely to go than before.
Cineworld and Odeon have unlimited screening monthly subscriptions. Vue don’t, but dropped their prices to compete. It was so worth the £7 to see Tenet in a near empty Vue, even if the film was a bit of an incomprehensible wank.
8 Likes
2 Likes
Disgusting. Compare and contrast with AO.com
AO World said its new scheme – called the value creation plan – would pay out bonuses to staff for share price rises above £5.23 a share – equivalent to a £2.5 billion stock market value and marking a rise of more than 200 per cent on current stock prices.
…though of course those at the top got their usual foul sums…
Execs could land up to a mammoth £20m each in bonuses under the plans