It was not too long ago that the future of cinemas looked decidedly grim.

Empire Cinemas fell into administration in early July, as the lingering effects of Covid allied to the cost of living crisis took its toll on the company.

Six Empire cinemas were closed immediately with the loss of 150 jobs, while the future of a further seven, including one in Clydebank, remain in the balance, as they continue to trade and administrators at BDO strive to find a buyer. The company had employed 437 people in total before the failure.

Around the same time, the much bigger Cineworld Group, similarly blighted by the fall-out from Covid, was completing a long-running financial restructuring process which formally ended on August 1, when it exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US.

Cineworld emerged with lower debt and a new management team, its assets having transferred to a new company, though the process resulted in heavy losses for investors.

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Throughout the bankruptcy process, business carried on as usual at all the Cineworld outlets, including those trading under the Regal, Cinema City, Picturehouse and Planet brands.

Now, thanks to some of the biggest releases in living memory, many of those theatres will be enjoying their best summers in years.

Cinemas were one of the biggest business victims of the pandemic, as restrictions forced the closure of multiplexes and independents for long spells and the production of films was severely hampered, curbing the flow of new releases.

This year, however, the industry is back with a bang, aided in no small measure by a sequence of summer blockbusters which have attracted audiences in their droves.

Two hotly anticipated movies have been crucial to the revival.

Barbie, a story based on the Mattel doll starring Margot Robbie and directed by Greta Gerwig, hit the billion-dollar mark in gross takings this week, just 17 days after its release, Warner Bros Pictures announced, following one of the biggest marketing campaigns seen for a film in years.

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Released on the same day as Barbie was Oppenheimer, the latest epic from director Christopher Nolan, which charts US efforts to develop the atomic bomb as the Second World War drew to a close through the story of physicist J Robert Oppenheimer.

While Oppenheimer has not scaled the same financial heights as Barbie, it had still grossed more than $500m in ticket sales by this week.

Both films have drawn huge audiences in the UK, with Barbie generating sales of £18.5m and Oppenheimer £10.9m on their opening weekend, according to figures compiled by the British Film Institute, and are continuing to pack them in.

But “Barbenheimer”, as the two films have been collectively termed owing to their simultaneous release date, have not been the only shows in town this summer.

Prior to their arrival in theatres, UK cinemas have also been able to drum up millions of pounds in ticket sales from Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, which is likely to be Harrison Ford’s final outing as the titular archaeologist-come-adventurer.

And there is more to come, with Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, Dune: Part Two, The Marvels, and The Creator still to come before the year is out.

A recent visit to my local multiplex as various family members took in Barbenheimer underlined the impact which this summer’s big releases have had. People were milling about the foyer in what looked to be unprecedented numbers, which was no doubt great for sales of popcorn and hot dogs.

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But the cinemas are not the only businesses which seem to be benefiting from this big summer of film. As we walked through the mall on our way from the car park to the theatre, it was abundantly clear that restaurants, cafes, and shops were doing well too.

With kids off school for the summer, many parents have no doubt been taking their children (Barbie is rated 12A by the British Board of Film Classification) to the cinema over recent weeks to keep them occupied.

David Pierotti, general manager for the Silverburn shopping and leisure mall in Glasgow, said this summer had been a “standout” for the destination, with the “temperamental Scottish weather” playing its part as footfall and sales have risen by 22% and 11% compared with the same period last year.

And he is in no doubt the release of the summer blockbusters has helped.

Mr Pierotti told The Herald: “We are in no doubt that the release of Barbie and Oppenheimer have been massive hits – we believe our Cineworld has enjoyed one of its best months yet which, given the global success of the films, is no surprise and this has also encouraged spend in our other stores and restaurants.”

Of course, going to the cinema is far from cheap so, at a time when inflation is still rampant and interest rates are continuing to rise, businesses will have been encouraged that consumers are showing resilience by going to the movies and visiting restaurants as part of the experience.

How this will all pan out in the longer term is difficult to forecast. The summer holidays will end soon, and the next slate of big movies is unlikely to match the broad appeal of Barbie and Oppenheimer, meaning there will be perhaps less impetus for people to visit their local multiplex.

Cost of living pressures and high interest rates are not going away, and when Christmas eventually comes into view for parents in the autumn, many families will have other things to spend their diminishing disposable income on than trips to the pictures.

Moreover, there is another danger lurking in the wings for the cinema industry.

Ongoing industrial action by actors and screenwriters in the US, who are in dispute with studios over pay and safeguards around artificial intelligence, has disrupted production activity, sparking concerns that the release of films and television shows will be delayed. It was recently reported in the US that Warner Bros may seek to delay the release of Dune: Part 2 until 2024 to ensure its stars, including Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya, will be available to promote the movie on its release.

Film buffs here will be keeping a close eye on developments. In the meantime, cinemas will be hoping the magic of Barbenheimer is just the start of a great theatrical revival.