With a strong start to the summer box office and a slate of blockbuster titles in the coming weeks, it’s as important as ever for cinemas to operate as efficiently and effectively as possible. Jurassic World Rebirth debuted for a great result for the 4th of July weekend, and there are more blockbusters on the horizon ready to deliver, so we’re focused on how cinemas can enhance their operations and craft an efficient and streamlined summer period.

From smart features that halve the time it takes to schedule your blockbuster titles, to self-service solutions that streamline both your moviegoers’ and your cinema operators’ experiences, the Vista team have been hard at work through the first half of the year innovating and delivering new features and solutions for the most efficient operating environment.

Driving efficiency with smart technology

Every business seeks to save time and save resources without compromising on guest experience. To achieve more with less, cinemas need smarter, simpler, and faster solutions that make demonstratable impact on their operations and goals. By innovating and harnessing AI and machine learning, Vista have introduced a number of new features and enhancements to our technology to help cinemas achieve just that.

At the high-level of operational oversight, Oneview has been harnessing exhibitors’ data to provide actionable insights since its creation, and we are continuously finding new ways to enhance the delivery of these insights, such as through the AI-powered Oneview Podcast feature. New forecasting calculations in Oneview enhance cinemas’ ability to budget and plan, with Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) and Churn rates showcasing loyalty members’ predicted spend and likelihood to churn.

These forecasts offer more than prediction, as their identification of high-value and at-risk loyalty audiences empower movie marketers to focus their attentions where they can make the greatest impact with their marketing efforts.

Movio EQ is making personalisation at scale in marketing easier than ever. Along with CLV and Churn identified audiences, Movio’s propensity algorithm, and our new Moviegoer Personas further refine audiences for marketers. Creating content personalised to these audiences is even faster, with the generative-AI-powered feature First Draft, and Dynamic Content providing movie marketers with the tools to craft campaigns at scale and with speed.

Scheduling the summer slate

With a wide range of tentpole releases and titles to draw in audiences of all shapes and sizes across the summer, the art of film scheduling becomes another challenge. Assisted Scheduling is our answer; working closely with Pathé Netherlands, we have built this smart feature to streamline film programming by generating a base schedule in as little as 2 minutes.

The results have been phenomenal, with Assisted Scheduling cutting film programming time spent by half.

How self-service streamlines operations

With Summer bringing an influx of moviegoers to the cinema, keeping ticketing moving smoothly—both online and at cinemas—is key. Lumos ticketing is supported by the robust foundation of Vista Cloud’s Core Confidence, scaling to meet blockbuster moments and ensuring an ideal experience for moviegoers across all your online sales channels as they rush to book their seats.

Between queue-busting, convenience, and upselling, self-service offerings can go a long way to not just empowering moviegoers, but streamlining cinema operations at the same time. Lumos Kiosks, covering both ticketing and food and beverage orders, can enormously reduce queues to keep your crowds moving. The latest feature for Lumos Kiosks, self-checkout, enables moviegoers to scan and purchase their concessions for an easy self-service experience

We have considered the benefits of self-service for both moviegoers and cinemas across the entire moviegoing journey with the Living Ticket, introducing self-service refunds, empowering moviegoers to swap seats, add food, and more, relieving pressure on your support teams and giving your moviegoers greater control over their experience.

Beyond ticketing, we have made innovations in F&B service with Lumos Order allowing guests to order via QR codes at their seat, table, or other locations in Family Entertainment Centres, avoiding queues and empowering your team to focus on providing exceptional service where they are needed most.

Innovating to elevate cinemas

The first half of 2025 has brought numerous new developments and features aimed at enhancing the way cinemas can operate with Vista Cloud. Embracing the intelligent use of AI and machine learning, developing smart features to save time and resources, and continuing to keep our eye on the future has us excited by the opportunities before us.

To see more of what’s coming for Vista, explore the developments on the Vista Roadmap, and stay tuned for more insights into how we’re innovating to elevate the world of cinema operations.