Russia: Polish design in Mori South Africa: New NuMetro UK: Kingston boutique, Grimsby 9-screen, Aberdeen, Glasgow Everyman, Sheffield The Light, Scarborough cinema war, Peterborough uncertainty, Wellgate The Light delayed, Reel in Kirby Holland: Kinepolis Den Bosch Germany: Berlin cinema revival, Meiningen delays, Lüdinghausen 2019 France: La Couronne USA: Clark Cinema 10 Iran: Tehran multiplex Cayman: Regal goes VIP Qatar: Vox opens in Doha Re-furb/re-open: Sunshine cinema buyer, Malco Wolfchase, La Palace, Lotte Busan, Savoy Hackney Closing: Pix, no listing for Plymouth’s Reel Finally: Newark’s last porn cinema – an appreciation.
Sydney’s super groovy Golden Age Cinema & Bar is the CJ + Vista’s Cinema of the Month
Russia – Polish design for this Russian cinema. The Mori Cinema-Imax Kuntsevo Park was designed by Robert Majkut Design and it looks stunning. Eurobuild – 10 April 2017
South Africa – NuMetro has opened its new multiplex at at Ballot Junction (KwaZulu Natal), featuring the first PLF Xtreme cinema for the region, as well as two VIP screens. The Xtreme screen has 337 semi-recliners, RealD’s new PWSgiant white screen, and a 4K ultra light projector and Dolby Atmos sound. Gourmet popcorn is served at Poptopia. IOL – 7 April 2017
UK – The regeneration of Eden Walk in the town centre of London’s suburb Kingston includes plans for a boutique cinema. It will be located next to the Sky Restaurant, but no word on the operator. GetSurrey – 31 March 2017
UK – Plans for a GBP £20 million leisure centre in Grimsby include a proposal for a nine-screen cinema. Freshney Place Riverbed is still on the drawing board and no operator has been selected or time plan announced. Grimsby Telegraph – 31 March 2017
UK – Aberdeen could be getting a new seven-screen cinema under lans for the Bon Accord and St Nicholas shopping centres. Replacing the bowling hall the 28,000 sq ft cinema would seat 800 people and cost GBP £2.2 million. Plans have been gestating for several years but hope is for work to start soon. Evening Express – 30 March 2017
UK – Cinema plans have been submitted for Glasgow’s Princes Square. A 250-seat three-screen boutique cinema would be located in the former Dwell furniture store. Everyman is the preferred operator, for whom this would be their first cinema in Scotland. Evening Times – 4 April 2017
UK – Sheffield’s The Light cinema is opening on 14 April and The Star has an early peek inside. The GBP £8 million complex promises ‘luxury’ at affordable prices, with local F&B providers including Kelham Island Brewery and Our Cow Molly ice cream. The cinema positions itself as a re-generator of night life in the city centre, but options are split about another cinema in Sheffield, located just 400 meters from the town leading independent cinema. The Star – 3 April 2017
UK – It looks like cinema war is looming in Scarborough, with two cinemas set to get go-ahead to build. Council officers are set to recommend plans for both Atlantis site and for a development on Newborough to be approved. However, the report notes that “[t]he cinema schemes on both sites are recommended for approval, but the likely outcome is that that only one of the cinema schemes would be taken forward in Scarborough.” This pits The Light (Newborough) versus Savoy (Atlantis). Yorkshire Coast Radio News – 4 April 2017
UK – More uncertainty over Queensgate cinema operator in Peterborough, as the mall operators have started talks with two other chain than the original partner Odeon. Odeon’s change of ownership, as AMC acquired it, is said to have halted signing the deal at the last moment. Peterborough Today – 6 April 2017
UK – Dundee Wellgate cinema plans have been revealed, with The Light originally set to open a 900-seat cinema by 2017, though this has now been pushed back to 2019 “at the earliest.” The original plans were disrupted by the the collapse of BHS last year. The Courier – 7 April 2017
UK – Reel Cinema is set to anchor a leisure scheme in Kirby town centre. Set to open in 2018 the six-screen cinema is one of four that Reel plans to bring to the North West of England in the next few years. Insider Media Limited – 11 April 2017
Holland – Construction has begun on the Kinepolis Den Bosch multiplex. The seven-screen cinema will have 1,000 seats and set to open next to the Central Station. This is the fourth Kinepolis cinema in The Netherlands. With the Utopolis cinemas the Kinepolis acquired it will be the 16th cinema in the country. The town has a five-screen Vue and a five-screen Verkadefabriek. HFN (NL) – 7 April 2017
Germany – Berlin is undergoing something of a cinema boom at the moment, with everything from multiplexes (UCI Kinowelt), art-house chains (York) and independent cinemas (Wolf). Kino Klick is the latest independent, with 83 seats in the renovated cinema in Charlottenburg. Then there is City Wedding, Il Kino and Kino toni is changing owners. Berliner Burier (DE) – 26 April 2017
Germany – Delays for the new multiplex in Meiningen, which was due to have opened this summer. The €6 million seven-screen 800-seat Cineplex cinema by the Werner Rusch family encounter unexpected water from the ground during the construction phase. Augsburger Allgemeine (DE) – 6 April 2017
Germany – Lüdinghausen is set to get a new cinema by autumn 2019 at the latest. The proposal has been passed by the local government but no operator selected. Ruhrnachrichten (DE) – 10 April 2017
France – La Couronne (The Crown) cinema has opened in La Roche-Bernard. The two-screen cinema has 160 and 52 seats. The cinema will be run largely by volunteers. Ouest France (FR) – 4 April 2017
USA (TN) – Clark Cinema 10 opening is set for April, between 14th and 21st. “The state-of the-art 10-screen multiplex will feature electric recliners, three 3-D auditoriums, an expanded concession menu, all digital projectors, stereo surround sound and sound-proof walls.” The Enterprise Ledger – 22 March 2017
Iran – The latest multiplex has opened in northern Tehran in the Arg Center shopping mall near Tajrish Square.The 305-seat multiplex was financed by Hedayat Film, which eight more screens set to open in the complex. Tehran Times – 17 March 2017
Cayman Islands – Regal Cinemas has opened a new VIP screen in its Camana Bay Stadium 6 multiplex. Seating is just eight rows of comfortable leather recliners. The 58-seat cinema has Dolby Atmos and 4K projection. “A full range of home-baked, thin-crust pizzas will be available to all movie-goers. These cook in just three to four minutes and are part of an extended food menu that includes a wide range of meals and great-value combos,” says Simon Watson, operations manager at Active Capital Ltd., which operates the cinema. Cayman Compass – 6 April 2017
Qatar -Al-Futtaim’s Doha Festival City has just opened. As well as 550 retail units the mall has a 14-screen Vox cinema, with 4D seating. Arabian Business – 5 April 2017
Re-furbs/re-openings
USA (NY) – A potential buyer for Manhattan’s Lower Eastside’s Sunshine Cinema. NY Curbed – 21 March 2017
USA (TN) – Malco Wolfchase Galleria Cinema 8 is set to re-open on 13 April, following repairs and renovations. Changes include “new seats, a redesigned lobby, an enhanced sound system and an improved concessions menu with healthier snacks, beer and wine.” Commercial Appeal – 28 March 2017
France – € 4.2 million will be spent to refurbish Le Palace Épernay cinema. Initially the work was to make the cinema wheelchair and access friendly, but the owners decided for a complete overhaul. L’Union (FR) – 5 April 2017
Korea – Refurbishment has been completed of the Lotte Cinema Daeyoung in Busan. The six-screen 987-seat cinema first opened in 1957 and underwent multiplexing in 1999. Metro Seoul – 1 April 2017
UK – Art-deco cinema in London’s Hackney could re-open after 33 years. “Auro Foxcroft, the man behind Shoreditch spot Village Underground, wants to dust off the seats of the old ABC and Savoy cinema.” The last film shown there was Al Pacino’s “Scarface”. Hackney Gazette – 6 April 2017
Closing
Australia – Pix Theatre is closing. The community cinema in Geelong West started life as a public hall in the 1950s. Bay 93.9 – 11 April 2017
UK – No listing for Plymouth’s Reel cinema. The Heralad – 10 April 2017
USA (NY) – Catskills’ Fairview Plaza Cinema 3 has closed for good. The last film show was fittingly “The Last Picture Show”. The Daily Mail – 20 March 2017
Finally
USA (NJ) – Revisiting Newark’s last active porn theatre. Like so many other cinemas, it functions primarily as a social space. And it has an amazing long history stretching back to before the war. WordPress – 18 September 2017
