Cineworld kicks off new venture to rent cinema screens to gamers

Cinema chain Cineworld is capitalizing on the world's lockdown interest in gaming by hiring out full theatres to play video games.

"There’s nothing quite as breath-taking as playing your favorite game in your very own private cinema screen," the company says in a press release, "and with this offering, guests can hire out a range of consoles and games, and play all the latest game releases."

You can hire a private screen for two hours for up to 20 people from £120/$170 – although prices hit £260/$370 for peak times at some theaters – between now and July 8, although you have to supply the console(s) and the games yourself if you don't want to fork out extra.

Sadly, Cineworld Leicester Square is not participating in the promotion, but otherwise "all of Cineworld's screens throughout the UK" are up for grabs. 

ICYMI, Netflix and Sony recently reached a deal that gives the streaming service exclusive rights to the studio's theatrical releases – including Uncharted and Venom 2 – within an 18-month window.

The licensing deal replaces an agreement Starz and Sony had that dates back to 2005, and gives Netflix exclusive rights to stream Sony movies within a year-and-a-half after their theatrical release. The deal officially starts in 2022 and with the state of movie theaters still in flux due to COVID-19, it makes sense that Netflix will also "have a first-look deal for any direct-to-streaming titles Sony is contemplating". 

Other major streamers have recently been making movies available simultaneously in theaters and online. Godzilla vs. Kong was released in both US cinemas and on HBO Max at the same time. However, Warner Bros. – which owns HBO – has already said that simultaneous releases will not continue into 2022, as the studio has made an agreement with Cineworld that movies will run for at least 45 days in theaters before heading online.

Here's our roundup of all the upcoming video game movies.