THIS Saturday some young film fans won’t be going to the cinema simply to watch Cars, Disney’s new animated film about motor racing; they’ll be able to race them, too.

At Shepherds Bush in west London and six other Vue cinemas around Britain, youngsters will be able to play the computer game based on the new movie on the big screen.

Two players will be able to race each other at the same time, and there will be prizes for the fastest lap at the end of the day. Afterwards, they can, of course, buy a ticket to watch the movie itself.

“I don’t care how good your home-entertainment system is,” said Steve Knibbs, chief operating officer of Vue Entertainment. “Compare that with playing on a 40-foot screen with people watching you.”

The ability to lay on an event such as this is the result of the installation of digital projectors in cinemas.

Traditional analogue equipment is able only to project reels of film on to the big screen. But digital projectors open up a range of new possibilities. For instance, they allow exhibitors to provide video games or broadcast live events, such as football matches or pop concerts. They could even be used by companies for sales demonstrations or lectures.

They also allow cinemas to become more flexible with the films they show. A piece of celluloid for an analogue projector is heavy, unwieldy and expensive to produce. Digital films are much easier, like changing a cartridge on a video-games console, and a fraction of the cost to produce. For a chain such as Cineworld, which prides itself on screening films tailored to its local customer base, such as showing Bollywood movies in areas with large Indian populations, it will make life much easier.

While the technology for digital cinema has been around for years, it is only now starting to take a foothold in the UK. Of approximately 3,500 cinema screens in Britain, about 260 have been converted to digital. Worldwide, there are 849 digital screens. By 2010, it is forecast there will be 17,000.

Although the main benefit in switching to digital will be for the Hollywood studios, the prospect of generating extra revenue from showing concerts or sports events is appealing to the big chains, such as Cineworld, Odeon and Vue.

Cinemas have been slow to test such “alternative content” extensively. David Hancock, a senior analyst at Screen Digest, a consultancy, said: “One reason is that there has not been much high-definition programming produced and to get the benefit, content needs to be available in high definition. That’s why the World Cup worked this summer.”

Companies that have experimented with alternative content have been pleased with the results to date.

Gerald Buckle, Odeon’s vice- president of business affairs, reports that screenings of World Cup football matches at some of its cinemas doubled the average customer numbers it would expect from normal film usage over the year.

“Our average occupancy for film screenings is 10% to 15% across the year. The World Cup screenings had occupancy levels of about 30%,” he said.

A performance like this would seem to make the decision of whether or not to invest in digital screens a no-brainer.

But there are drawbacks. Buckle points out that big-ticket events, such as the World Cup or rock concerts do not come along very often, so the benefits are minimal, particularly given the amount of effort that has to go into marketing such screenings.

Proponents of digital cinema argue that it just needs a little more thought and imagination.

Howard Kiedaisch, of Arts Alliance Media, which has a contract with the UK Film Council to install and run the first 238 digital screens in Britain, said: “Cinema chains have to come up with a continuous programme of content.

“That doesn’t mean putting on something every day, but enough so they know the cinema becomes a destination for them. If, for example, you show football matches on a regular basis, you build awareness for when the World Cup comes round again.”

Some applications already used by digital cinemas are surprising. In Belgium, for example, doctors were able to watch an eye-surgery demonstration.

This opens up exciting possibilities, but it is likely to be a relatively small part of exhibitors’ business.

Knibbs at Vue Entertainment said: “Will alternative content overtake film in 10 years? No. Will it be a decent proportion of our business? Yes.”

The real beneficiaries will be the studios, which will have lower distribution costs. Once the Film Council-funded projectors are installed, the debate will switch to who will have to pay for the rest of the equipment.

Just the ticket

CINEMAS may be hoping to benefit from new income streams, but West End theatres are already booming.

Despite the terrorist attacks in London, 2005 was a record year for the capital’s big theatres, with box-office takings up to £375m — and 2006 could be even better, according to Richard Pulford, chief executive of the Society of London Theatre.

Ambassador Theatre Group, the West End’s largest operator, is likely to move into profit this year, while newcomer Nimax Theatres, which bought four theatres from Andrew Lloyd Webber last year, is also on course to be in the black after its first year of operation.

Theatre bosses have had a string of big hits and, with further blockbusters, such as Porgy & Bess, Dirty Dancing and Spamalot, coming out this autumn, they are feeling optimistic about the rest of the year.

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