Taika Waititi brings cinema to life in new campaign for Vue Cinemas

Global cinema holding company Vue is inviting cinemagoers to ‘Feel it forever’ in a new brand film.

Created by Hijinks and directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Taika Waititi, the campaign showcases the power of cinema, showing how stories, characters and emotions never leave us.

The two-minute film will air before all screenings across Vue’s European estate, as well as on social, connected TV and digital channels.

Moments of awe

It forms part of a wider campaign promoting a refreshed brand platform for Vue, highlighting how its continued focus on the customer experience draws audiences into moments of awe that leave a lasting impact.

‘Feel it forever’ revolves around a visual metaphor where cinemagoers are followed around by characters from all the films they’ve seen throughout their lives, showing how stories, emotions and characters from film can live on long after the credits roll.

Waititi, who shot the film with production company Hungryman on location in New Zealand and London, says: “This is an epic love letter to cinema that reminds us why we go, and keeps us coming back.”

In addition to Waititi, the wider production team included colorist Jean-Clement Soret, editor Tom Eagles, DOP’s Ross Giardina and Suzie Lavelle, composers Soundtree Music and post by The Refinery. 

Characters from across the ages

Together with Hijinks’ creative team, the team worked on recreating movie characters from a wide range of genres, from romcom to sci-fi, film noir to action and more.

Styling, colour and grade also correspond to their genres and historical time period. An 80s-style character is given an analog VHS screen effect and noise, a Wild West character is portrayed with a dusty sepia grade evocative of Technicolor, while a fantasy genre fairy has a soft ethereal glow.

‘Feel it forever’ is Vue’s first brand campaign since 2020. It is also the first by Hijinks, which was appointed as Vue’s creative agency in 2024 and has previously worked with the cinema group on creating its ‘EPIC by Vue’ branding and identity. 

Hijinks co-founder and chief creative officer Marc Allenby says: “This was the brief every creative wants to land in their lap. Cinema is such a brilliant and important cultural playground, and having the opportunity to create a piece of entertainment that utilises the big screen and Dolby Atmos sound was the absolute dream, not just for myself, but for the whole entire Hijinks team. And having brilliant client partners helped us define the brief and challenged us at the moments that mattered. Working with Taika was the experience of a lifetime. I’m incredibly proud of what we have achieved together – two minutes of pure big screen joy.”

Industry’s greatest talent

VUE founder and CEO Tim Richards says: “It was important to us to work with some of the industry’s greatest talent including the Academy Award-winning filmmaker Taika Waititi, to create a film that demonstrates cinema’s unique ability to connect with audiences and stay with them long after the credits roll. When you experience great movies on the big screen, you feel it forever.”

Vue brand and marketing lead Matt O’Hara adds: “Rather than just promote films, Vue has always championed the big screen experience itself and this new campaign, working in partnership with Hijinks, evolves from our previous work to celebrate the broader benefits of cinema: bigger emotions, deeper connections and moments that never leave you. We wanted something bold and disruptive for the category, a true celebration of cinema that stands alongside the very best films on Vue’s screens.”

The film will run in the UK and Ireland from May 1, followed by The Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Poland and Lithuania later in May with the wider campaign including social edits, behind-the-scenes content, out of home and in-cinema assets.