By Rob Harris
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London: A stroll along many of Britain’s ailing high streets will often turn up an old cinema that is now sadly a pub, a co-working space or maybe even a casino.
It seems like movie theatres across the country are closing down left, right and centre. Barely a few weeks go by without the BBC or a local news outlet carrying a story about a chain in financial crisis, or another closing down a multiplex in Milton Keynes, Bristol, Northampton or even London.
Even bespoke venues like the famous Prince Charles Cinema in London are under threat.Credit: AP
What used to be an accessible and culturally enriching activity is now overpriced and out of reach for many, even as a last resort to keep the kids quiet for a couple of hours.
Sometime in the mid-1980s, the Disney masterpiece Lady and the Tramp was reissued and screened in the old twin cinema complex in Morwell, about two hours’ drive east of Melbourne.
My mum, to her eternal credit, thought I might like to see it. It began a lifetime love of going to the cinema. A mixture of a string of new films in my wheelhouse, dreadful happenings in the world and the British midwinter gloom has sent me to the flicks about 10 times already this year.
I would usually see between 20 and 30 films a year anyway. Almost always by myself and almost always on my own dime.
Mostly it’s at one of those places with leather couches where people bring you bottles of chilled white wine, grilled halloumi or an ice-cream sundae. Most people these days do not want to pay £12.99 ($25.75), but at these places you can pay £25 ($49.55). Add some food or a drink, and the cost can double. I realise I am in a minority of people prepared to pay that kind of money.
Cinemas across the world have faced immense financial hardship as streaming services became more popular, and the pandemic fuelled countless closures. In 2020, there were 879 cinemas in Britain; now there’s a tad more than 800, according to the UK Cinema Association.
Many of those fighting on are small venues with only two or three screens, each with a capacity of about 90 people. Often fewer.
But even bespoke cinemas are under threat. Lately, the future of London’s iconic Prince Charles Cinema – famous for its all-night movie marathons and unusual levels of audience interaction, from sessions like “Sing-along-a-Rocky Horror” to “Solve-along-a-Murder, She Wrote”, where punters raise miniature placards of Jessica Fletcher’s face at suspicious moments – is under a cloud.
Harriet Rose and Robert Pattinson attend the Mickey 17 World Premiere at Cineworld Leicester Square in London on February 13.Credit: Getty Images for Warner Bros Pictures
The landlord wants to set a rent far above the market rate, and is seeking to include a redevelopment break clause. The West End picture house has been around since the ’60s and is one of the few independent cinemas in central London.
As the New Statesmen wrote recently, it is one of the few places left where you can catch a mainstream movie you missed on the big screen, or take your child to see Home Alone during its sellout December season.
Phil Clapp, chief executive of the UK Cinema Association, told the BBC recently that some cinemas that were economic to run before the pandemic and recent financial challenges are no longer viable, and are being closed.
Some will be reopened by other operators, he says, “but inevitably it will mean that some communities lose their local cinema, [which] really does have an impact”.
Margot Robbie and Cillian Murphy in Barbie and Oppenheimer, respectively. The blockbusters’ simultaneous launch was nicknamed “Barbenheimer”, but it failed to secure the future of movies theatres.Credit: Artwork: Nathan Perri
The 2023 cultural phenomenon of “Barbenheimer”, when both Barbie and Oppenheimer set box-office records and were widely critically acclaimed, didn’t seem to turn the tide.
There’s no surprise streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Apple TV are booming. The big cultural moments happening are on TV right now.
Charles Gant, awards/box office editor at Screen International, says 2024 was not a good year financially for films, despite huge hits such as Inside Out 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine.
He said in a recent interview that some of the main issues facing cinema complexes are rising energy and staffing costs.
“They are large buildings and some are probably not built in the most energy-efficient manner,” he said. “Some of the stuff that got built in the 1990s are these of out-of-town sheds.”
But he noted new cinemas were opening and operators recognised the need to “offer something more than people would get at home”.
“The general trend is to [offer] more reclining sofas [and] a more upscale experience, and part of that is a move away from the large auditoriums with hundreds of seats.”
The economics of film and cinema is complex, and I won’t pretend to understand it. Maybe the offerings aren’t worth it any more? Another Marvel film like the last, or a remake of a classic that nobody asked for, aren’t that enticing.
But seeing something like The Brutalist in a theatre is worth everything you’re willing to pay. It would be a great shame to lose the experience of going to the cinema.
Now I’m off to see the new Bridget Jones.
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