Ellen E Jones paints a picture of a cinema industry under mortal threat (Go fullscreen: can Hollywood ever fight back against Netflix?, G2, 24 March).

Happily the facts tell a very different story. Last year both the UK and US box office reached record levels. This year already promises to be even better.

And far from an increasingly limited slate of film releases, as suggested by the article, 2016 saw a record 900 titles arrive in UK cinemas.

While commercial discussion on the “theatrical window” continues, Amazon – itself no slouch as a disrupter of traditional business models – having trialled similar “day-and-date” (simultaneous cinema and streaming release) strategies to Netflix, has now committed to a more conventional approach, believing that to be best both for it and for the paying public.

If Netflix poses any threat (and we’d be hard pressed to know, given its unwillingness to publish revenue figures), it is to the rest of the home entertainment sector and not to one offering an immersive out-of-home experience.

The need to continually innovate is one recognised by all cinema operators, as evidenced by their continued and massive investment in all aspects of cinema-going, to the benefit of communities across the country.

The time used to concoct this narrative might have been better spent celebrating the cultural, social and economic success enjoyed by the UK cinema industry and the hundreds of thousands who rely on it for their livelihoods.

Phil Clapp

Chief executive, UK Cinema Association

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