The Guardian covers how the multiplex saved the British film industry, apparently.
The increased choice of films, state-of-the-art technology, copious free parking space and a vast array of snacks on sale – all imported from the American model – made an immediate impact on the stagnant British market. The Point sold 2m tickets in its first two years, a miracle in a climate that had seen the national cinema attendance drop to just 55m by 1984 (the peak had been 1.6bn in 1946). Cannon opened the second British multiplex at Salford Quays in December 1986, and between 1987 and 1991 around 500 new screens sprung up nationwide, by which point British cinema admissions had risen to 100m.
I was lucky enough to live near Milton Keynes and went to the Point in those early days, though none of us realised its significance until fairly recently (having seen it not so long ago, it does look a little dated). I remember going to see Batman there back in 1989, which was the first 12 certificate film if I remember correctly (another first, although I was under 12 at the time and worried someone might question it, but they didn’t).
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