Latest in Vue

After a week of controversy, UK multiplex chain Vue is set to remove its ban on showing gang movie Blue Story. The pic opened in the UK over the weekend via Paramount, grossing an impressive $1.7m (and we hear holds during the week have been strong), but was dogged by controversy after an incident at a Birmingham…

Rapman, real name Andrew Onwubolu, has hit out at UK multiplex chain Vue over its banning of his film Blue Story. The cinema said it had taken the measure after "25 significant incidents," following an initial widely reported incident involving a machete at a Birmingham site on Saturday (November 23) during the film’s…

SECOND UPDATE AT 14:27 PM PST: UK theater chain Showcase is reinstating movie Blue Story with “increased security protocols.” Here’s their comment just in: “We took the decision to temporarily suspend screenings of Blue Story to enable us to assess the situation. After careful consideration and discussions with the…

UPDATE 13:29 PM PST: Cineworld-owned UK arthouse chain Picturehouse won’t be showing The Irishman either, the company has confirmed to us. That’s another 26 UK theaters that won’t be showing the anticipated Scorsese film. EARLIER EXCLUSIVE AT 10:22 AM PST: As anticipated, not everyone is on board with the rollout plan…

After 40 years in the industry, Alan McNair, Vue International's Deputy CEO, retired on June 14. McNair’s retirement comes two years later than he had originally planned due to the exhibitor’s concerted international expansion. Prior to joining Vue in 1999, he was one of the key executives responsible for forming…

Roma continues to be a lightning rod for controversy within the cinema vs streaming debate. Philip Knatchbull, CEO of leading UK arthouse exhibitor and distributor Curzon, has responded to Vue’s open letter to BAFTA in which the commercial chain criticized the organization for bestowing four movie prizes on Netflix’s…

Leading international cinema chain Vue, one of the UK and Europe’s biggest operators, has sent an open letter to BAFTA Chief Executive Amanda Berry criticizing the organization for awarding four prizes to Netflix’s Roma. Scroll down for the letter in full. Vue founder and chairman Tim Richards spells out why he thinks…

Leading U.S. and international film companies have been largely quiet so far on the disappearance of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Behind the scenes, however, they are reevaluating their investments in and from the country. International outrage over the fate of Khashoggi, who has been missing since…

The launch late last week of a potential UK equivalent to U.S. ticketing upstart MoviePass created a stir among Blighty’s exhibition community. No-one knew who was behind the audacious offer called cPass, whose site included the logos of all major UK theater chains. So, over the weekend I tracked down the U.S. and…

A company supposedly positioning itself as a UK equivalent to U.S. ticketing upstart MoviePass, has been met with wonder by the UK Cinema Association (UKCA), whose members include theater chains Odeon, Cineworld, Vue and Curzon — we’ve been told none of its members are signed up to the service. A professional-looking w…

Three UK theatre chains — Cineworld, Picturehouse and Curzon — have dropped Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight in a row with local distributor Entertainment Film over its decision to award the exclusive West End screening rights to rival chain Odeon. Cineworld, its subsidiary Picturehouse and Curzon have a combined…

Canadian investment groups OMERS Private Equity and Alberta Investment Management Corporation will pay £935M ($1.45B) for pan-European multiplex operator Vue Entertainment. Vue’s current owner, private equity firm Doughty Hanson, acquired the group in 2010 for £450M and expanded its holdings at home and abroad with…