Tim Richards, founder and boss of Vue cinemas, reckons he knows what the nation wants to watch and when. Families in northern England want early film times to allow an early dinner. In Islington, north London, the local Turkish community wants films in its own language.
“There’s one part of London, I don’t want to name it, that has one of the highest number of car thefts per capita in the country, and they love Fast & Furious,” laughs the Canadian-born entrepreneur, referring to the multibillion-dollar film franchise starring Vin Diesel.
Until three years ago, choosing which films to show in each cinema was the job of an eight-strong team of experts. Today, Vue employs artificial intelligence. “We brought in some of the top people