{"id":6962,"date":"2024-03-19T17:29:11","date_gmt":"2024-03-19T20:29:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/?p=6962"},"modified":"2024-03-19T17:29:11","modified_gmt":"2024-03-19T20:29:11","slug":"liverpools-astor-theatre-eyes-opportunity-with-bridgewater-cineplex-closure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/2024\/03\/19\/liverpools-astor-theatre-eyes-opportunity-with-bridgewater-cineplex-closure\/","title":{"rendered":"Liverpool’s Astor Theatre eyes opportunity with Bridgewater Cineplex closure"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Cineplex Cinemas Bridgewater will close on April 29. (Rick Conrad)<\/p><\/div>\n

While moviegoers on the South Shore may be mourning the impending closure of Cineplex Cinemas in Bridgewater, Liverpool\u2019s Astor Theatre is getting ready to welcome film fans back.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bridgewater Mayor David Mitchell confirmed online rumours late last week that Cineplex will close its seven-screen multiplex on April 29.<\/span><\/p>\n

No one from Cineplex was available for an interview on Tuesday, but the company sent the following statement to QCCR:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve made the difficult decision not to renew our lease and to close our Cineplex Bridgewater location, the last day of shows will be April 29.<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n

“We are grateful to our team and the community for their support over the past 11 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mitchell said he\u2019s contacted Cineplex to see if they would remain in town at a different location or in a smaller venue. He said Tuesday he hasn\u2019t heard back from the company.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOther than the date, I have no additional information from Cineplex,” he said in an interview.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a huge loss just because it\u2019s an entertainment venue, it\u2019s a place where all ages could go out and socialize. It\u2019s a loss in terms of that social aspect in the community.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But Bridgewater\u2019s loss could be Liverpool\u2019s gain.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Astor Theatre has regularly shown movies in its 200-seat space. It just recently got a new sound system installed. Executive director Jerri Southcott says they plan to begin showing movies again by mid-April. She said it may keep more Queens County moviegoers at their hometown theatre.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPersonally, I think it\u2019s sad. The timing is really interesting. While it\u2019s not going to make a huge difference, because we\u2019re not sure people will make the trip here, but it might help.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe will certainly be looking at the opportunities that it will have for us as a functioning theatre.\u201d\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

News of the Cineplex Bridgewater closure comes amid a few tough years for the movie theatre industry. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, theatres have struggled to bring people back. Competition from streaming services has also bitten into the bottom line.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to a 2023 study by Telefilm Canada<\/a> on Canadian movie consumption, 95 per cent of Canadians watch feature films. But 98 per cent of that movie watching was happening at home.<\/span><\/p>\n

Big budget action movies are still a draw to the multiplex, the study found. But many older and rural consumers watch a majority of movies at home. Fewer than a third of people made two or more trips to cinemas in the previous 12 months.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHigh spectacle genres are the preferred lures to cinemas, especially for younger moviegoers,\u201d the report found. \u201cBy contrast, many older and more rural consumers watch an overwhelming portion of their movies in the home.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ironically, Cineplex has been reporting better audience numbers in the past year, though box office receipts are still lagging behind 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

Smaller theatres like the Astor, which are considered second-run movie houses, had been restricted in what kinds of movies they could show. They had to wait until new releases cycled through Cineplex.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With the Bridgewater theatres closing, Southcott isn\u2019t sure how that will affect what the Astor can offer.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe tended to be a place where they could see movies that they wouldn\u2019t necessarily be able to see at a big cineplex anway. We\u2019re excited about getting it up and running again. I\u2019ts a great venue. Seeing a movie here is a really great experience.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mitchell said he thinks there\u2019s still a great moviegoing market in Bridgewater.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think this is the end of movies in Bridgewater. You can watch a movie in Liverpool and you can watch a movie in Chester at the two playhouses, which is great. But regionally, this is the only multiplex. There is a market here for the multiplex.”<\/span><\/p>\n

In the meantime, an online petition<\/a> has been created to convince Cineplex to reverse its decision. It has more than 800 signatures so far.<\/span><\/p>\n

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Listen to the audio version of this story below<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/cineplexastormar1924.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While moviegoers on the South Shore may be mourning the impending closure of Cineplex Cinemas in Bridgewater, Liverpool\u2019s Astor Theatre is getting ready to welcome film fans back. Bridgewater Mayor David Mitchell confirmed online rumours late last week that Cineplex will close its seven-screen multiplex on April 29. No one from Cineplex was available for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[13,5],"tags":[38,379,1909,1908,382,601,1553,39,1910,1911,1912,1913,1161],"class_list":["post-6962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community-news","category-news-posts","tag-astor-theatre","tag-bridgewater","tag-cineplex","tag-cineplex-cinemas-bridgewater","tag-david-mitchell","tag-entertainment","tag-jerri-southcott","tag-liverpool","tag-mayor-david-mitchell","tag-movies","tag-multiplex","tag-telefilm-canada","tag-theatre"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6962"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6962\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6967,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6962\/revisions\/6967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}