I don’t see streaming as the competition

The boss of one of Britain’s biggest cinema chains says he does not see streaming services and home entertainment as competition.

Tim Richards, founder and chief executive of Vue International, said film studios had tried to “circumvent” cinemas during the pandemic but had lost “hundreds of millions of dollars” as a result.

“I think studios have definitely learned that we’re in a little ecosystem, we all need each other,” he told the BBC. Big Boss Interview podcast.

He says rival cinema chains also have a constructive relationship: “We’re very open about sharing best practices. We want to send a message that cinemas are a great place to have a good time.”

Richards talked about the turmoil the film industry has experienced in the last five years.

Vue went from having its best year ever in 2019 to being “effectively closed for almost two years” during the Covid-19 pandemic to grappling with strikes by actors and writers. stop production for almost another year.

Vue recorded a pre-tax loss of £91.8 million in the 12 months to 30 November 2024, compared with the previous year, and said the fall in revenue was “primarily due to lower admissions”.

Globally, the cinema industry is experiencing change, with big names like Cineworld suffering. It filed for bankruptcy in the US in 2022 and went into administration in the UK in 2024. Since then, it has started to restructure its debts and close some of its branches.

Streaming services like Netflix as Richards tries to figure out how to prevent Vue from going under or having to lay off any of its employees They saw their subscriber numbers explode.

“I had one focus: saving the company and saving all 10,000 of our employees,” he says.

“When you have a mission like this, failure isn’t really an option because the consequences are so high.”

Even as cinemas began to reopen, industry insiders were questioning whether the movie-showing model had completely changed. Movies like Marvel’s Black Widow have been seen minimal theater play While streaming platforms try to highlight their original productions.

More recently, K-Pop titles like Demon Hunters and The Tuesday Murder Club have only been released in theaters for a few weeks. quite popular.

But Richards was unimpressed. Vue is back to pre-pandemic trading levels this year and expects next summer to be the company’s biggest trading ever.

He emphasizes that there will always be interest in the big screen: “During the pandemic, there was an increase in subscription services because people had no other options. But this did not continue.

“I’ve never looked at what’s going on at home as competition. Our biggest, most frequent customers are Netflix subscribers or Disney Plus subscribers. People who love movies love movies in all formats.”

Hollywood strikes are also a matter of supply, not demand, he says. “We never had a demand problem”

Richards clearly knows the ecosystem of movies. Before founding Vue (later Spean Bridge Cinemas) in 1999, he served as a senior executive at Warner Brothers and operated the studio’s own theater chain, Warner Village. Spean Bridge acquired Warner Village’s 36 theaters in 2003 and the Vue brand was born.

“The Times business headline was: ‘Unknown Bit Player Buys Warner Brothers,’” he recalls with a laugh.

As cost-of-living pressures continue, many parts of the entertainment industry are seeing revenues slow as people cut back on discretionary spending.

Added to this are rising operational costs: an increase in the minimum wage and increased employer National Insurance contributions.

“We have done our best to not pass these costs on to our customers,” Richards said. “And we didn’t do that. We took a small hit as a result, but we’re hopeful that the volume we’re seeing as a result will follow that.”

Still, he says, the entertainment industry has been “squeezed… and in some cases, attacked.”

In his view, the government’s decisions “hurt the very people they were trying to help.”

What is the industry’s message ahead of the upcoming Budget? “Please don’t touch [us] Again.”

While Richards doesn’t believe publishers are poaching customers, he says he’s concerned “someone might turn right and go to a theme park or a football game or something.”

But this is not the case with teenagers and young adults who stay at home instead of going out. “They are much more social than previous generations and this has been reflected in our participation in many of our films,” he says.

So which is his favorite movie?

He responds diplomatically. “I see a lot – a share – movies every week.

“But I’m looking at a movie like this: One war after another. And when I watch a movie like this, I have hope for the future because it’s an incredible movie. Original intellectual property, original story, incredibly well-crafted.”