VUE cinemas have literally just put out a statement saying that, unlike Odeon, they will NOT be following the biggest UK cinema chain and boycotting Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. The news just came through their official twitter account and we’ll be getting the full statement sent through shorty (now below).

The tweet said:

“We have reached an agreement with Disney and will be showing Alice in Wonderland at our cinemas.”

Yesterday, the Odeon cinema chain confirmed that they would be boycotting Disney’s new movie because of the length of time between theatrical release and that of DVD and Blu Ray just 12 weeks later instead of the normal 18 week run.

This is great news for us, the consumer as Vue is the UK’s third largest cinema chain after Odeon and Cineworld. Cineworld have also agreed a deal with Disney to show the movie so Odeon is now a lone duck and will probably see a rather large pot of money go down the plughole after, in my opinion, being rather stubborn.

***Update: Full Press Statement below:***

23 February 2010

Vue Entertainment Agrees Significant

New Deal with Disney

London 23rd February: Vue Entertainment is delighted to announce that it has entered into an important and far reaching agreement with The Walt Disney Company UK that will deliver more choice for cinema goers while also providing more flexibility for the studio.

This means that Vue will be showing Disney and Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland at all of its 69 state of the art cinemas across the UK and the Republic of Ireland from 5 March.

The agreement offers Disney the flexibility to hit key retail DVD & BluRay trading dates on a limited number of films. Vue’s customers will also benefit through improved release patterns that should ease the pressure on cinemas by offering more choice for film goers throughout the year.

Tim Richards CEO of Vue Entertainment said ‘We are delighted that we have reached an agreement with our partners at Disney. This is a win win for everyone in the entertainment business and in particular for our customers by offering greater film choice. This agreement is also likely to grow the business for all the key stakeholders.’

Richards continues ‘We are looking forward to showing Alice in Wonderland in Digital 3D at Vue and wish it great success both in cinema and later on DVD/BluRay’.