Odeon cinema chain shuts 30 venues Monday-Thursday
The Odeon is reducing its hours because of Covid. Pic: EDP - Credit: Archant
Cinema chain Odeon is opening Friday-Sunday only at some venues and ‘reducing hours’ in Norwich.
Cinema City in Norwich. It is temporarily closing again because of Covid. Picture Archant. - Credit: Archant
The firm, with a cinema in Norwich’s Riverside, confirmed about 30 of its 120 sites will shut from Monday to Thursday after audience figures have been slow to recover following the pandemic.
The AMC-owned cinema chain has not yet published a list of affected cinemas. However, a spokesman for the Odeon in Norwich said: “We should be open seven days a week but may have reduced hours, with one showing of some films instead of three.”
confirmed if Norwich is affected.
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Cinemas are struggling as people stay away because of coronavirus and new releases like the James Bond film have been postponed.
Cinema City posted a message on its social media to customers, saying: “It’s with great sadness that we will be temporarily closing all of our Picturehouse Cinemas from Friday, October 9.”
Local businesses and customers have voiced their dismay at the closure. Bosses at the Bowling House bar in Dereham Road, Norwich posted on Facebook: “We are absolutely devastated to hear the news that Cineworld will be closing their doors for the foreseeable future. We started Bowling House after a decade of working at Cinema City, so it’s heartbreaking to see it close and to watch our friends lose their jobs.
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“Right now we’re putting our heads together to find a way to help our friends and their families get through this. More news to follow. In the meantime, this is a good reminder to us all that unless we support the businesses we love, they could disappear forever.”
Fans of Cinema City, situated in one of the city’s oldest buildings, voiced their sadness at the news. Businesswoman Linda Thursby, a director of Epic Studios in the city, which itself has suffered a 90pc drop in sales because of Covid, posted: “Sad news... I hope the government start to sit up and notice the devastation within the entertainment and hospitality industry...cross fingers you reopen.”,
This newspaper approached Norwich’s other multiplex, Vue in Castle Quarter, but it is not yet known if it will be reducing its hours.
