Odeon to close two London cinemas this week
Odeon Cinemas is reportedly closing its Covent Garden and Surrey Quays branches in the next two weeks.
The first of the closures is its Covent Garden site, which will permanently shut on Thursday, August 8. Previously reporting on this, Time Out revealed that developers had plans to turn the building back into a West End theatre.
The building, which was once the Saville Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue, has operated as a cinema for over 50 years.
So I'm afraid to say what I posted earlier is true.
I just popped into @ODEONCinemas Covent Garden & yes it closes this Thursday. The site has been purchased and will be converted into a "luxury" hotel & Theatre.
Fortunately the staff are being deployed elsewhere.
Very sad. https://t.co/UfhRXz0MCu pic.twitter.com/Qc3J9UvLSi— Steve Scarebear (@Scare158Steve) August 3, 2024
Related: Vue has "no intentions" of closing any of its UK cinemas
Rumoured plans include interest from Cirque du Soleil, who intend to use it as a permanent base with a 400-seat venue underneath the building and a boutique hotel above.
While there is no official confirmation from the cinema chain itself, disappointed film fan Steve Scarebear seemingly confirmed the news via a post on X.
After hearing rumours of the closure and investigating with an in-person visit to the cinema, he wrote: "So I'm afraid to say what I posted earlier is true. I just popped into @ODEONCinemas Covent Garden and yes it closes this Thursday. The site has been purchased and will be converted into a "luxury" hotel and theatre. Fortunately the staff are being deployed elsewhere. Very sad."
Related: How to get cheap cinema tickets at Cineworld, Vue, Odeon and more
Meanwhile, the Surrey Quays branch of the cinema will officially be closing on Sunday, August 18, according to Southwark News.
"ODEON Surrey Quays will close following confirmation from our landlord of plans to undertake a redevelopment of the leisure park. The site will close on Sunday, August 18," the cinema chain shared in a statement.
"Supporting the team is our number one priority, and we would like to thank our colleagues for their incredible work over the years at the cinema. We will be looking to secure jobs for as many of them as possible in our other local cinemas. We would like to apologise to our guests for any inconvenience this will cause."
Elsewhere, cinemagoers were left disappointed when Cineworld announced the closure of 25 cinemas last month - around a quarter of its sites.
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