Serial entrepreneur Stelios Haji-Ioannou has plans to make it big in the movies - using the same formula he has applied to EasyJet airline seats and EasyCar rental cars.
The EasyGroup founder - who has a fortune estimated at £650m - wants to use the technique of offering deep discounts to those willing to book well in advance or for less popular times to launch a central London cinema.
To be called EasyCinema, and branded in the same bright orange as the group's budget airline, the cheapest seats for those willing to book tickets a month in advance could cost as little as 20p each.
For popular screenings, ticket prices would automatically rise in line with demand - meaning that prime tickets for Saturday evening screenings of blockbuster movies would be sold at the same price as conventional West End cinemas.
EasyGroup says the company is reviewing the feasibility of EasyCinema, and is negotiating for a central London site for the first movie house to open by the end of this year.
"What we want to do is open the first cinema, sort out any teething problems and then go into a second one," said a spokesman.
"Our priority this summer is for EasyInternet (the group's chain of internet cafes) and EasyCar to break even, and then we can turn our attention to EasyCinema."
Mr Haji-Ioannou is also said to be investigating plans to widen his brand to include backpacker-style tourist accommodation through a company called EasyDorm, possibly opening hostels in London, Paris and New York.
Regional cinema has also received a shot in the arm, with the announcement today that art-house cinema operator City Screen has received investment worth £6m from technology venture capitalist Art Alliance.
The deal allows Art Alliance to take a majority shareholding in the company that operates 14 cinemas in towns and cities throughout the UK, including the Clapham Picture House in south London, the Phoenix in Oxford and City Screen in York.
The funding means the company can push ahead with its plans to build and regenerate local picture houses in niche markets, according to Lyn Goleby, director of City Screen.
