- For other uses, see UGC (disambiguation).
UGC is the largest European cinema operator with, as of October 2004, 92 sites and 929 screens across six countries:
- UK: 41 cinemas, 391 screens
- France: 40 cinemas, 365 screens
- Spain: 5 cinemas, 88 screens
- Belgium: 4 cinemas, 56 screens
- Ireland: 1 cinema, 17 screens
- Italy: 1 cinema, 12 screens
In 2002 they sold 64 million tickets.
UGC was originally a France-only operator, created in 1971 from a merger of regional cinema companies. The name stood for Union Générale Cinématographique; it is no more expanded today.
UGC’s arrival in the UK in October 1999 was a result of the acquisition of Virgin Cinemas.
The company is pretty much commerce-oriented, without significant aspirations towards promoting artistic cinema, unlike for example MK2.
In December 2004, UGC in the UK and Ireland was bought out by Cineworld.
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