I live right by this cinema and also grew up going there and the trouble for me since its Picturehouse acquisition has been the price. It costs, like, £15 and there’s a Vue in Fulham Broadway that does the same job for £7. And those seats are comfy too.
Maybe you sorta implied it but the big barrier to cinema-going it seems to me now is laziness? I think people can’t be bothered to leave the house when there are so many options on their laptop!
The sad thing I’m finding obviously is that the options on the laptop aren’t endless or always good (I’m constantly finding that films I want to stream just aren’t available anywhere now)
Vue is making a play for the low-cost, high-volume end of the market (aided by the fact that all their venues are quite horrible) but they have financial woes of their own (and a very different corporate structure). But it’s possible that the Picturehouse in that location fell between the crack of £7 at Vue and £22 at the Everyman on the Kings Road.
Thoughtful as ever, Nick. I do love a cinema, but it's sometimes hard to justify their high prices. When there's a big blockbuster out, such as Top Gun: Maverick, I will make an effort to watch it on the Big Screen. But the reality of the situation - and it's reflected in Warner Bros. Discovery's latest results - is that all of the budgeting and efforts are going towards streaming. If they want to become sustainable businesses, cinemas need to look at themselves more as venues, which offer good food and other experiences beyond movies. Partnerships with other retail brands (Waterstones, for example) would also make sense to help build-up footfall.
This has long been an argument with regards to concessions. Cinemas only take a sliver of the ticket price, but can take 100% of the exorbitantly priced popcorn…etc. And I know that a lot of the big chains partnered with like Starbucks or Costa so that they could utilise some of the prime retail space between 10am-4pm when the cinema is pretty dead.
But I think the reality is that the high ticket prices are a by-product of an asymmetry in power between studios, distributors and then movie theaters. Possibly naivety, but I think that financial relationship bears rethinking, given that its driving cinemas to close (and thus depressing box office receipts anyway). I would also be keen for DCMS and the Treasury to provide more/some targeted relief for the sector, because I do think its of critical reputational importance to the UK. The business rates relief for hospitality applies to cinemas, but I think the situation is much more dire than pubs/restaurants (and probably more important). It’s become so unfashionable to wang on about “the death of the high street” but I do think it’s a really important part of our social fabric that everyone seems very reluctant to intervene on!
Regent Cinemas in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, a multiplex that had 9 screens and a palatial cinema auditorium that was one of the most glorious of theatrettes in all Australia shut down a couple of months ago. It was devastating to the Central Victorian community. Ballarat has close to 100k people. Showbiz Cinemas, Delacombe Town Centre opened in Ballarat around 2017, a 7 cinema multiplex in a new shopping centre in a growing part of town.
I would have seen hundreds of movies over the years at Regent Cinemas. And I live 45 minutes away in Maryborough. Our local cinema the Paramount Twin struggled for many years and didn't have a lot of the movies I wanted to see. So I'd travel to Regent Cinemas in Ballarat. Another town of near 100k people called Bendigo is an hour away from Maryborough and has the brilliant Bendigo Cinemas, a 8 cinema multiplex run by Village Cinemas. I've seen hundreds of movies there too. There's also the Theatre Royal in Castlemaine, 35 minutes away, Star Cinema, Eaglehawk (in Bendigo) and Ararat Cinema, an hour away also but I've never been to see a movie at any of those.
Around 2012 the Paramount Twin in Maryborough shut down. A miracle happened in late 2017 when the owners of Colac Cinemas (2 hours away) decided to renovate the Paramount Twin and it was transformed into Maryborough Paramount Theatre. The 2 theatrettes were revamped, 2 new digital projecters, new sound systems and most importantly a new lease on life. I was there at the first screening of The Last Jedi and I've seen probably over a hundred films there since. The manager pre-COVID walked me through plans for two more cinemas and even a possible Gold Class like experience. They were very optimistic about the future of the cinema.
The pandemic devastated all of the above cinemas. The numbers of people I noticed myself and heard from friends and family attending sessions was smaller than what I used to experience and hear about.
So two new cinemas opened in Central Victoria in 2017 (encouraging for cinema no?) and it lead to the death of a mighty cinema. Now funnily enough with Deadpool and Wolverine I've heard Maryborough Paramount Theatre and Showbiz Cinemas were packed. Might be a one off phenomenona. But now I can imagine Maryborough people staying in town to see movies instead of going elsewhere. Maryborough has 8k residents by the way. And with Regent Cinemas shuddered a lot of Ballarat and surrounds residents would be going to Showbiz.
Regent Cinemas, Ballarat also used to screen a lot of arthouse movies which was part of its appeal to me. Theatre Royal in Castlemaine and Star Cinema in Eaglehawk certainly punch above their weight arthouse wise. So not all is lost. But Regent Cinemas was a habit for me at certain parts of my life. I'm sad that Regent Cinemas perished. And I feel your pain Nick.
Great article by the way. I'm saddened by all these death of cinema articles. I miss the days when cinemas were opening to much fanfare (only 7 years ago for me in my area). But I don't know if those days will be returning with streaming services dominating the world. As long as movies live on. Long live movies!
I live right by this cinema and also grew up going there and the trouble for me since its Picturehouse acquisition has been the price. It costs, like, £15 and there’s a Vue in Fulham Broadway that does the same job for £7. And those seats are comfy too.
Maybe you sorta implied it but the big barrier to cinema-going it seems to me now is laziness? I think people can’t be bothered to leave the house when there are so many options on their laptop!
The sad thing I’m finding obviously is that the options on the laptop aren’t endless or always good (I’m constantly finding that films I want to stream just aren’t available anywhere now)
Vue is making a play for the low-cost, high-volume end of the market (aided by the fact that all their venues are quite horrible) but they have financial woes of their own (and a very different corporate structure). But it’s possible that the Picturehouse in that location fell between the crack of £7 at Vue and £22 at the Everyman on the Kings Road.
Thoughtful as ever, Nick. I do love a cinema, but it's sometimes hard to justify their high prices. When there's a big blockbuster out, such as Top Gun: Maverick, I will make an effort to watch it on the Big Screen. But the reality of the situation - and it's reflected in Warner Bros. Discovery's latest results - is that all of the budgeting and efforts are going towards streaming. If they want to become sustainable businesses, cinemas need to look at themselves more as venues, which offer good food and other experiences beyond movies. Partnerships with other retail brands (Waterstones, for example) would also make sense to help build-up footfall.
This has long been an argument with regards to concessions. Cinemas only take a sliver of the ticket price, but can take 100% of the exorbitantly priced popcorn…etc. And I know that a lot of the big chains partnered with like Starbucks or Costa so that they could utilise some of the prime retail space between 10am-4pm when the cinema is pretty dead.
But I think the reality is that the high ticket prices are a by-product of an asymmetry in power between studios, distributors and then movie theaters. Possibly naivety, but I think that financial relationship bears rethinking, given that its driving cinemas to close (and thus depressing box office receipts anyway). I would also be keen for DCMS and the Treasury to provide more/some targeted relief for the sector, because I do think its of critical reputational importance to the UK. The business rates relief for hospitality applies to cinemas, but I think the situation is much more dire than pubs/restaurants (and probably more important). It’s become so unfashionable to wang on about “the death of the high street” but I do think it’s a really important part of our social fabric that everyone seems very reluctant to intervene on!
Regent Cinemas in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, a multiplex that had 9 screens and a palatial cinema auditorium that was one of the most glorious of theatrettes in all Australia shut down a couple of months ago. It was devastating to the Central Victorian community. Ballarat has close to 100k people. Showbiz Cinemas, Delacombe Town Centre opened in Ballarat around 2017, a 7 cinema multiplex in a new shopping centre in a growing part of town.
I would have seen hundreds of movies over the years at Regent Cinemas. And I live 45 minutes away in Maryborough. Our local cinema the Paramount Twin struggled for many years and didn't have a lot of the movies I wanted to see. So I'd travel to Regent Cinemas in Ballarat. Another town of near 100k people called Bendigo is an hour away from Maryborough and has the brilliant Bendigo Cinemas, a 8 cinema multiplex run by Village Cinemas. I've seen hundreds of movies there too. There's also the Theatre Royal in Castlemaine, 35 minutes away, Star Cinema, Eaglehawk (in Bendigo) and Ararat Cinema, an hour away also but I've never been to see a movie at any of those.
Around 2012 the Paramount Twin in Maryborough shut down. A miracle happened in late 2017 when the owners of Colac Cinemas (2 hours away) decided to renovate the Paramount Twin and it was transformed into Maryborough Paramount Theatre. The 2 theatrettes were revamped, 2 new digital projecters, new sound systems and most importantly a new lease on life. I was there at the first screening of The Last Jedi and I've seen probably over a hundred films there since. The manager pre-COVID walked me through plans for two more cinemas and even a possible Gold Class like experience. They were very optimistic about the future of the cinema.
The pandemic devastated all of the above cinemas. The numbers of people I noticed myself and heard from friends and family attending sessions was smaller than what I used to experience and hear about.
So two new cinemas opened in Central Victoria in 2017 (encouraging for cinema no?) and it lead to the death of a mighty cinema. Now funnily enough with Deadpool and Wolverine I've heard Maryborough Paramount Theatre and Showbiz Cinemas were packed. Might be a one off phenomenona. But now I can imagine Maryborough people staying in town to see movies instead of going elsewhere. Maryborough has 8k residents by the way. And with Regent Cinemas shuddered a lot of Ballarat and surrounds residents would be going to Showbiz.
Regent Cinemas, Ballarat also used to screen a lot of arthouse movies which was part of its appeal to me. Theatre Royal in Castlemaine and Star Cinema in Eaglehawk certainly punch above their weight arthouse wise. So not all is lost. But Regent Cinemas was a habit for me at certain parts of my life. I'm sad that Regent Cinemas perished. And I feel your pain Nick.
Great article by the way. I'm saddened by all these death of cinema articles. I miss the days when cinemas were opening to much fanfare (only 7 years ago for me in my area). But I don't know if those days will be returning with streaming services dominating the world. As long as movies live on. Long live movies!