Gympie Cinema welcomes new hollywood blockbusters

Highly anticipated movies Cruella and A Quiet Place Part II premier at the Gympie Cinema this Thursday, and are hoped to mark the return of the crowds to Gympie’s only local cinema.

Gympie Cinema owner Paul McKeown hopes a string of Hollywood blockbuster movies will bring an influx of customers in after a difficult year with the coronavirus pandemic.

After a rough year thanks to COVID, Gympie Cinema owner Paul McKeown is striving to keep the doors open with a number of new movies to soon preview at the theatre in Monkland St.

The Australian Government’s Jobkeeper payments officially concluded on March 28, 2021, but that hasn’t stopped Mr McKeown from keeping his doors open and the popcorn popping.

“With the new blockbusters coming through this week... hopefully that will stimulate people to come back in to the cinema,” he said.

Among the blockbusters set to preview at the cinema within the next six months are the highly anticipated F9 (Fast & Furious 9), and starting Thursday, May 27, Disney’s Cruella and A Quiet Place Part II.

With the rise of streaming services like Netflix potentially threatening cinemas and the lack of new movies distributed from Hollywood, Mr McKeown said it was hard to tell how badly the business had been affected.

“Until we’ve had six months of big movies, then we can gauge how much effect the online viewing has affected cinemas,” he said.

When the cinema reopened in September 2020, following the COVID lockdown, Mr McKeown kept the doors open by showing old films, to little success.

“They want to see new, fresh movies no one has seen before... (People) want to be entertained.”

As for promotional events, Mr McKeown said Budget Tuesdays, where tickets are only $8, will be continuing.

Originally published as Gympie Cinema welcomes new hollywood blockbusters