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Chief cinema officer Anavach Ongvasith yesterday said examples of coming blockbuster movies were "Hellboy II", "Harry Potter VI" and the latest in the Batman and James Bond series.

Although the political situation continues to be uncertain, and global oil prices are still climbing to new highs, Major Cineplex has a strong belief that these films will attract movie-goers, Anavach said.

"The political and economic situation in the second half will not be better than in the first half, but consumers will adapt themselves to cope with this tough situation," he said. "Besides, movie tickets at the moment are between Bt120 and Bt150 - not expensive for consumers. We have no plans to adjust ticket prices throughout this year."

Major Cineplex defines itself as an entertainment operator not only of movie theatres, but also other businesses, such as VCD and DVD distributorships, Anavach said. The company believes VCD and DVD home entertainment has room to grow.

In the first half, Major Cineplex expanded four cinemas upcountry, and it plans to add four more in the second half. At present, the company operates 41 cinemas nationwide.

Anavach said the company expected this year's revenue to grow 20 per cent from last year's Bt6.59 billion. Despite political uncertainty and the economic situation, Major Cineplex believes it will achieve this goal.

Yesterday, the group announced cooperation with two partners - EF Education First and Dutch Mill - to continue the second year of the "English On Screen" campaign, teaching English through movies.

The campaign will provide 10 scholarships worth Bt2 million to take Thai students to study English in the UK for two weeks.

"We were very successful in the first year of this campaign," Anavach said. "This is corporate social responsibility for us. We have roughly 500 marketing campaigns throughout this year and will allocate a marketing budget of Bt300 million."