Will texting be allowed in cinemas?

There was a heated exchange at trade event 'CinemaCon' in Las Vegas this week, when Amy Miles, a bigwig at American cinema chain Regal Entertainment, suggested (gulp!) they would consider letting the public text during films.

She was on a panel debating how theatres can lure "today's savvy moviegoer" back into cinemas. Miles reckoned that in "certain types of films", such as '21 Jump Street', youngsters should be allowed to use their mobiles.

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"You're trying to figure out if there's something you can offer in the theatre that I would not find appealing but my 18-year-old son would," she said.

She seemed to imply that today's youngsters have too short an attention span to sit through a 90-minute movie without checking their texts, Facebook or Twitter.

During the discussion she found support from IMAX boss Greg Foster, who said that banning mobile phones made his customers "feel a bit handcuffed", but it triggered a furious response from Tim League, CEO of indie Texas cinema chain The Alamo Drafthouse. They have a strict ban on using phones, but do serve food and drink during screenings.

"Over my dead body will I be introducing texting into movie theatres... That's a scourge of the industry,'' he said. "It's our job to understand that this is a sacred place."

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It's clearly an emotive issue for film fans, and one that's surely not going to go away anytime soon if younger viewers continue to stay away from the cinema.

When it comes to television, it's common to see popular shows trending on Twitter — from 'Towie' to 'The Apprentice' — because viewers are busy tweeting throughout.

Maybe film fans want to do the same.

There are already loads of smart phone apps that help punters get to the cinema and pick which films to see, so why not let fans share their cinema experience during screenings as well?

The opposite argument of course is that a burst of light from a phone illuminating a dark room immediately takes you out of the movie experience and into rubbish real life. A trip to the cinema should be about escapism. It's even more annoying than people munching Revels loudly.

Also, is it really too much to ask Joe Public to disconnect from their friends/the internet for two hours? A break from constant phone and email communication sounds like a godsend, but maybe that's just us.

What do you guys think? Texting at the movies: a good idea or the worst thing to happen to cinema trips since those Orange adverts?

Give us your thoughts in the comments section below…