Jim Armitage: Can James Bond and Star Wars help secure a sale for Odeon?

It’s been an action-packed 24 hours for Odeon, which screened the new Bond movie through the night to packed cinemas.

At Leicester Square, the last show was at 3am and the first sold-out screening this morning was at nine.

That’s good news for Odeon’s owner, Terra Firma, where Guy Hands is struggling to keep the Spectre-like hedge funds away from seizing his debt-laden Four Seasons care homes.

Bond will soon be followed by an even bigger blockbuster in the new Star Wars movie.

But could these takings be enough to smoke out fresh bidders for the cinemas chain?

Hands originally wanted to sell it for £1 billion by the end of the year, but it’s gone quiet since a rumoured deal with China’s Dalian Wanda failed to materialise.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Odeon’s £435 million pile of debt was putting bidders off.

Odeon says it can cover its £40 million annual repayments. But indebted companies aren’t popular.

Luckily, Hands’ investors have granted a time extension to the fund where Odeon sits.

But they’ll still be hoping for a more successful sequel to the Dalian talks soon.

Tick, tick, tick.