Advanced Television

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UK cinema chains confirm reopening

Following the government’s green light for the next phase of lockdown lifting to go ahead next week, cinema chains Cineworld, Odeon and Vue have confirmed they will be reopening their screens across the UK. In a statement, Vue said: “We’re very excited to announce that we will be opening all our venues in England, Scotland […]

May 11, 2021By Nik Roseveare

pixitmedia enables rapid film scanning of blockbuster releases

pixitmedia, a software-defined storage and data management solution provider, has enabled specialist film laboratory and facility Cinelab London to streamline its storage and media management for expansion in delivering rapid turnaround on some of the biggest motion pictures and episodic series of the past year. The company has worked on some of the past year’s […]

March 24, 2021

Cineworld confirms reopening; Warner Bros deal

Cineworld, the world’s second-largest cinema chain, has announced it will reopen cinemas across the US in April, and UK cinemas will follow suit when lockdown restrictions are lifted in May. Cineworld has also announced that it has struck an exclusivity deal with Warner Bros studio. In the UK, Cineworld will have exclusive rights to Warner […]

March 23, 2021By Nik Roseveare

IMAX “optimistic for strong recovery”

Giant cinema screen operator IMAX has benefitted from strong box office receipts across Asia and with encouraging signs that the upcoming slate of Hollywood blockbusters will see an enthusiastic response from China. IMAX installed 71 cinema systems and signed agreements for 65 extra systems for the full year, and saying that this demonstrated continued partner […]

March 8, 2021By Chris Forrester

Paramount+ reveals pricing & content

ViacomCBS has updated investors on its differentiated streaming strategy, which leverages the company’s product offerings across free, premium and pay segments with Pluto TV and SHOWTIME OTT to create a linked ecosystem with the launch of Paramount+ in the US and 18 LatAm countries on March 4th. Paramount+ will feature a combination of live sports, […]

February 25, 2021By Nik Roseveare

MGM for sale

MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer), the legendary Hollywood film studio home to the likes of the James Bond and Rocky franchises, is up for sale with a reported asking price of around $5.5 billion (€4.5bn). MGM Holdings has hired investment banks to find a buyer as the streaming boom sees platform owners bid fiercely for film and television […]

December 23, 2020

Forecast: Cinema to see rapid return in APAC; but not W. Europe

Ampere Analysis has published revised forecasts for global box office revenues in 2020, now just 25 per cent of the original estimate made in January, showing the devastating effect of coronavirus on the sector. At the start of 2020, Ampere forecast annual gross box office revenue of $44.5 billion (€37.1bn) globally, a stark contrast to […]

November 30, 2020

IMAX still hurting, but optimistic

Giant screen cinema operator IMAX recorded its highest-ever losses for its Q3 trading. They were brought about because of its Covid-impacted revenues which plummeted to $37.3 million from $86.4 million in the same period in 2019. But the revenues could have been worse. Asian revenues, where the Covid restrictions had been relaxed, helped boost income […]

November 2, 2020By Chris Forrester

Cinemas ‘shocked’ by Disney+ film premieres

The International Union of Cinemas (UNIC), representing European cinema operators, has responded to Disney’s decision to forego a cinema release for its upcoming Pixar animation Soul, and instead launch the movie straight onto its Disney+ streaming service on Christmas Day. It marks the third time during the pandemic that Disney has released a tentpole movie […]

October 13, 2020By Nik Roseveare

A quarter of Vue cinemas go part-time

Nearly a quarter of Vue’s UK cinemas will shut for three days a week in the wake of the barren movie release schedule. Twenty-one of the chain’s 87 sites will be closed from Tuesdays to Thursdays as of this week. The move is necessary “to ensure that our business is financially well-placed to withstand the […]

October 12, 2020