Odeon has reportedly sold more than 1 million tickets to the latest film in the James Bond franchise, No Time to Die, in Britain and Ireland.
As the highest attended film since “Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker” in 2019, this is undoubtedly a huge help to a sector that was badly affected by COVID-19 closures, and hopefully signals a brighter future for the cinema industry.
Despite this flash of success, it is no time to be complacent for cinema owners as the need for a consistent flow of further popular screenings – as well as additional revenue streams such as home streaming – is what will really help them stay afloat in the coming months.
Those organisations that look for new opportunities and structure their business model appropriately to address a change in demands will be the ones that gain competitive advantage and fair well in the future. All elements of the industry have been affected – from development, production, distribution to film exhibition. Each of those elements need to work together but current trends do not indicate a wholesale shift to streaming platforms or a lasting impact on viewing habits and consumers still want the experience of seeing films in cinemas the way they were meant to be. The James Bond box office figures demonstrate this.
Physical footfall is no longer a guarantee so it will be interesting to see how this threat is turned into opportunity in the coming months.
Sarah Riding
Sarah Riding is an experienced commercial contract specialist advising on a wide range of commercial arrangements. Her wealth of experience includes supply of goods and services, manufacturing arrangements, supply chain management, logistics, routes to market, franchising, technology contracts and outsourcing. Sarah acts for clients both nationally and internationally and has worked on many cross-border arrangements.