Brixton cinephile favourite, the Ritzy cinema, has been bought by Cineworld along with all other Picturehouse cinemas.
The Managing Director of the group, Lyn Goleby, has insisted that “the Picturehouse cinemas, and all that we stand for, will remain as before and will operate as a standalone division of Cineworld.”
Programming, membership and ticket prices will all remain separate from the Cineworld cinemas. Picturehouse aim to stick with what they are best loved for and to screen a range of features, including art-house, independent, and world cinema films as well as Hollywood blockbusters.
The group is expected to open 10 more Picturehouse venues across the UK as a result of the acquisition.
I know, they stated in the article that the membership would not be absorbed into Picturehouse cinemas Ghostface, but they failed to say why? Cinemas notoriously run at a loss on box office revenue and profit from food and drink, they require roughly the same amount of staff to screen a film to an audience of one as they do to a packed house and must show a film regardless of attendance so by allowing Cineworld subscribers in would make sense.
Guess we just have to wait and see how this affects programming and operation but as someone that works near other Cineworld cinemas I’m confident the impact should be quite limited.
Rza – they’ve already said that this is not going to happen. What a shame this has happened, the Ritzy has always had something special about it – now swallowed up by a corporate giant.
I would like it if they included the Cineworld membership in the Ritzy.