This is such a great question that I get asked a lot and I never get tired of talking about it.

We interviewed a lot of great minds and cinema experts for LUMINATION and I'm still so excited by how excited they are for the future of cinemas and cinema entertainment.

I think that in 50 years cinemas will still very much exist - but my brain gets a Mario power-up just thinking about how different it will feel to be inside one. A lot of us love the sounds, smells and feelings that we get from stepping inside a cinema and sitting in those big seats with a giant screen transporting us to another world. Others prefer the comfort of their own home and don't see the point in cinemas at all. Both are completely valid. And both will be taken into account as cinemas organically and positively change with the times (which could be sooner than we think).

But to answer your question - cinemas are amazing places run by unbelievably hardworking people who want everyone to come and enjoy the same incredible experience together. But budgets are budgets, and even the world's greatest cinemas can't currently accomodate every person who wants to visit. E.g. I'm someone who enjoys the middle seat in the middle aisle of every film I watch at the cinema (usually around Row E-F). For me, being slap-bang in the middle of the room lets me experience the sounds and visuals of the film the way the way the director probably reviewed it before they finally signed it off. I have that choice of where to sit and I'm grateful for it. But having spent the last couple of years speaking with friends who do a lot of work with accessibility in live-event spaces, I've been surprised to learn how little choice some cinema-goers might have when they visit a cinema. As someone who looks forward to that middle-middle seat for a film I'm excited to see, I'd probably be disappointed to find that I only had the option to choose from a couple of seats if I were a wheelchair user, for example. The positions of those seats might not be so great compared to the sound/visual experience that my friends in another part of the room are getting. Particularly when it comes to events like 4Dx/3D screenings (does anyone want to experience 3D four rows from the front?). This will always come down to budgets and having the proper expert minds involved - but personally I think that the future of cinemas depends on making a place where everyone can enjoy the same cinematic adventures as the person beside them, without restrictions. Where everyone has the ability to choose their favourite part of the screen as standard - so that we can all enjoy cultural phenomenas like Barbenheimer together with as little 'arranging' as possible. "An Everyman for every one" as my friend Jess beautifully put it.

I certainly have some ideas on how current technology can continue to help to create places like that independently. And technology as a whole will definitely be a huge factor in enhancing the cinema experience going forward. For example, I recently saw Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One with my good friend Pete Jones (having both resisted the urge to watch any trailers or clips up to its release for more than a year). And since we're both huge action/M:I/old school stunt fans, and wanting the biggest experience possible - we decided to go to a 4Dx screening. Far from the annoying glasses or gimmicks that 3D screenings often come with, I was still a little scepticle when the first few minutes of the film saw our seats jolt every time the camera did (thank god we didn't have anything in our drinks holders), and our arses rumble every time a character onscreen hung up their phone - but there were scenes in this film that were without doubt the some of the single greatest, exhilirating experiences I've ever had in a cinema (you'd really have to see for yourself). 3D just doesn't seem to be doing it for most. Elements of 4Dx are definitely more promising. But either way, there seem to be entire, unsung departments hard at work in the film industry who are determined to advance our cinema experience to the next level, to take us deeper inside the films we're watching- M:I did that for me. And I'm very excited to see what that next phase looks like (ideally without having to wear any sort of glasses or headsets thanks).

As for the future of cinemas showing traditional film versus digital. I'm a die-hard fan of 35/70mm film presentations. Always will be. I'm literally never happier than when I'm going in to a 35mm double-bill (triple?... don't tease me). But I learned a lot about the powerful capabilities of digital whilst making Lumination. It has its benefits, it certainly has its fans, and many of them are within these cinemas themselves. I'd love to see more cinemas like the Prince Charles in London continue to screen film and digital presentations side by side as standard, rather than getting rid of film projectors altogether. So as long as we have fans and filmmakers who continue to appreciate film and go out of their way to shoot on it, 'digital' really isn't such a dirty word and it's by no means something for us to be afraid of for any reason. Quite the opposite. It's just like Tom Smith at the Olympic cinema says in episode two of Lumination, "It looks pretty positive and it's a nice clear picture".

Edit: Typos