Event cinema up 50% at Vue

Exhibitor Vue Entertainment has reported record numbers of people attending its event cinema screenings with a 50% increase in 2013. The multiplex cinema chain stated that it expected the demand for opera, ballet, theatre, music and sporting event screenings to continue, with the number of admittances projected to double this year.

Vue CEO Tim Richards said demand for event cinema screenings had “increased significantly” in recent years and that it had “invested heavily” in its 83 cinemas around the UK to provide access to event cinema screenings.

The most successful event cinema screening to date was the one-off 50th Anniversary episode of Doctor Who, The Day of the Doctor in November 2013, which took $2.3m in a single night despite being simultaneously broadcast for free on BBC1. The episode took $10m worldwide from 650 cinemas (Nov 23-25) and claimed a Guinness world record as “the world’s largest ever simulcast of a TV drama”, reaching 94 countries.

The next major event cinema screening will be of the National Theatre’s production of War Horse, which will be shown on cinema screens live across the UK on Feb 27.

Since its first season in June 2009, over 1.8 million people have experienced the work of National Theatre Live in 700 cinemas in 25 countries, with over 300 venues in the UK.

War Horse follows National Theatre Live’s broadcast of The Audience starring Helen Mirren as the Queen, exhibitions of Manet and Vermeer, Muse recorded live from Rome, and Robbie Williams live from Tallinn.

Forthcoming productions include the National Theatre’s King Lear, directed by Sam Mendes, English National Opera performances including Peter Grimes, Terry Gilliam’s reimagining of Cellini, Elton John live from Caesar’s Place Las Vegas, and Vikings Live from the British Museum.