Odeon earnings double on success of Avengers and Jurassic World
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Version 0 of 1. Odeon’s earning doubled in the first half of 2015 to £37.3 million on the strength of blockbuster film releases. Jurassic World, the Avengers, and the Fast & Furious 7, combined with the removal of booking fees and improved popcorn, helped Odeon achieve audiences 14 per cent higher than at the same point last year. Paul Donovan, chief executive of Odeon and UCI, said: “In any quarter you usually get a surprise stand-out film and there hasn’t been one in Q3. That just shows how important big tent pole movies are to this business.” Retail revenue at the cinema groups has climbed by almost 20 per cent in the first half to £85 million as cinema goers buy more wine, coffee, popcorn and nachos. The European cinema group indicated that its third quarter was unlikely to be as strong as the first two quarters of the year, due to the absence of a major box office draw, but said that the second half would be very strong overall. However, Disney’s summer movie Inside Out has proved to be a consistent draw for family audiences, and continues to be its best performing film more than a month since it was released. Donovan says the animated film about the emotions in the head of an 11 year old girl has the potential to be a slow-building box office success, much like the 2013 Oscar winner Gravity. Cinemas are expecting bumper end to the year, when a triple whammy of new releases – a new Bond film, a new Star Wars film and another installment of the hugely successful Hunger Games saga – is set to prove a big draw. Odeon is now two-thirds through its refurbishment programme in the UK and will open new cinemas in Naples and Dublin next week. It has also been investing in digital marketing and databases, to increase its social media activity, as well as retraining staff, to improve its service. @angejameson |