Various articles around saying that the cinema has been bought by Savoy Cinemas, is being refurbished by them and will re-open in Autumn 2024.
One article reports “Savoy said the cinema will reopen with four screens in their former configuration while three will remain closed for renovations including new luxury seating comprising rocker seats, faux leather electric recliners and double sofas”.
The refurbishment is rather good. Besides the recliner seats and new stadia stepping, all the walls have a black matte finish which makes the auditorium very dark with no light reflection. This technique is used in other Vue cinemas, it’s good.
The screens still remain at 7 in Scope and 7 flat.
The 7 auditoria with 1.85 screens are fairly square but I believe that Scope screens could be fitted. There is a slight room for wider screens. With Scope screens, that would then reduce the size of the screen for 1.85 films but, given the general size of the auditoria in question, that would not be a bad decision.
In my opinion it would actually be an improvement for both types of films.
The reason for the closure given was that Showcase and the site owners had not been able to agree a new lease. Showcase stated that whilst business had imoproved post Covid, it was still not back to the pre Covid levels (possibly, I presume, because this is a city centre site).
If the site owner wished to increase the lease amount, then one can see that this becomes a problem for Showcase. Result – the cinema will close. A great pity as I found it an excellent cinema.
The video was strong on all the facilities but just showed a fleeting glimpse of one of the screens. Sadly it was not a full Scope screen, just a flat 1.85 ratioed one which will require Scope films to be shown letterboxed just as on TV.
This seems to be standard practice now for Cineworld, quite why I cannot understand. A far inferior practice, in my opinion.
Impressive cinema visited in October 2022.
I was in the smaller Screen 3 which has a large wall-to-wall Scope screen with side masking. Screen 2, which I also saw, is much the same and I believe Screen 1 is even larger.
The decor, seating and ambience throughout was impressive making it an excellent place to watch movies in.
It is now reported online that the planning application has been withdrawn, no doubt due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The report reads “In a statement on Tuesday (March 31), Odeon confirmed that it had “temporarily” pulled its plans”, so hopefully the plans may be resubmitted when life returns to normal.
In another report online it states that Guildford Borogh Council bought the freehold to both the Odeon and Old Orleans restaurant sites in October 2018 and there is an interview with a councillor expressing the council’s desire to improve the sites, so I dare say they will be keen that the application is resubmitted at some point in the future.
Good to read that the Superscreen has all the latest projectors.
I presume though that the screen itself is still 1.85 necessitating that all Scope movies are shown letterboxed with no masking. This may be fine for bright day scenes but for dark or night scenes, I think this letterboxing makes a mockery of the presentation.
Additionally if the image is projected with the projector set to ‘Flat’ (as it will be), the sides of the image will be truncated; only 1998 horizontal pixels displayed instead of 2048, thus cutting the aspect ratio down to 2.32.
In all, somehow I don’t think the ‘Superscreen’ concept is quite as super as Cineworld would like us to believe.
The photo uploaded shows that the Supercreen is 1.85 Flat. I presume that all the other screens will be the same which seems to be the standard Cineworld policy nowadays.
Scope films, despite the fact that the majority of films are in Scope, have to be shown letterboxed with no masking. This is not, in my opinion, the proper cinema experience; it’s just a big TV set. Very disappointing.
That makes the aspect ratio 1.32.
What a strange ratio; so both the old IMAX film ratio of 1.43 and the Digital Imax ratio of 1.90 are going to result in black bars top and bottom.
Whenever a standard Scope film is shown, there will be huge black bars top and bottom.
This doesn’t seem like a very appealing proposition to me.
Announced for closure on 10 December 2024 as a consequence of their financial troubles.
No closure date given.
Announced for closure on 10 December 2024 as a consequence of their financial troubles.
No closure date given.
Announced for closure on 10 December 2024 as a consequence of their financial troubles.
No closure date given.
Announced for closure on 10 December 2024 as a consequence of their financial troubles.
No closure date given.
Announced for closure on 10 December 2024 as a consequence of their financial troubles.
No closure date given.
Various articles around saying that the cinema has been bought by Savoy Cinemas, is being refurbished by them and will re-open in Autumn 2024.
One article reports “Savoy said the cinema will reopen with four screens in their former configuration while three will remain closed for renovations including new luxury seating comprising rocker seats, faux leather electric recliners and double sofas”.
To supplement my previous comment, indeed all 10 screens are Scope with no side masking.
Closure announced by Cineworld on 26 July 2024.
Exact date yet to be given.
The refurbishment is rather good. Besides the recliner seats and new stadia stepping, all the walls have a black matte finish which makes the auditorium very dark with no light reflection. This technique is used in other Vue cinemas, it’s good.
The screens still remain at 7 in Scope and 7 flat. The 7 auditoria with 1.85 screens are fairly square but I believe that Scope screens could be fitted. There is a slight room for wider screens. With Scope screens, that would then reduce the size of the screen for 1.85 films but, given the general size of the auditoria in question, that would not be a bad decision. In my opinion it would actually be an improvement for both types of films.
The reason for the closure given was that Showcase and the site owners had not been able to agree a new lease. Showcase stated that whilst business had imoproved post Covid, it was still not back to the pre Covid levels (possibly, I presume, because this is a city centre site).
If the site owner wished to increase the lease amount, then one can see that this becomes a problem for Showcase. Result – the cinema will close. A great pity as I found it an excellent cinema.
The video was strong on all the facilities but just showed a fleeting glimpse of one of the screens. Sadly it was not a full Scope screen, just a flat 1.85 ratioed one which will require Scope films to be shown letterboxed just as on TV.
This seems to be standard practice now for Cineworld, quite why I cannot understand. A far inferior practice, in my opinion.
Impressive wall-to-wall Scope screens with no masking in Screens 1 and 2 which I saw.
I was told that the others are similar.
Screens are arranged in pairs across a central corridor. The middle pair (3 and 4) are the largest auditoria and presumably have the largest screens.
Impressive cinema visited in October 2022.
I was in the smaller Screen 3 which has a large wall-to-wall Scope screen with side masking. Screen 2, which I also saw, is much the same and I believe Screen 1 is even larger.
The decor, seating and ambience throughout was impressive making it an excellent place to watch movies in.
When in the area again, I will be back.
Is anyone able to confirm the aspect ratio of the screens ?
Are they indeed all 1.85 ‘Flat’ as reported or are there some ‘Scope screens in the larger auditoria ?
… but still with no proper Scope screens, I presume.
Summer 1963
It is now reported online that the planning application has been withdrawn, no doubt due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The report reads “In a statement on Tuesday (March 31), Odeon confirmed that it had “temporarily” pulled its plans”, so hopefully the plans may be resubmitted when life returns to normal.
In another report online it states that Guildford Borogh Council bought the freehold to both the Odeon and Old Orleans restaurant sites in October 2018 and there is an interview with a councillor expressing the council’s desire to improve the sites, so I dare say they will be keen that the application is resubmitted at some point in the future.
March 2020 : refurbished and rebranded as ‘Odeon Luxe’.
The refurbishment was completed during the enforced Covid-19 shutdown so the cinema has yet to open fully as a Luxe cinema.
The total capacity is now 770 (plus 16 wheelchair spaces) with individual capacities ranging from 125 in Screen 8 to 70 in Screen 5.
One of the screens, probably Screen 8, is an ISense Screen.
March 2020 : refurbished and rebranded as ‘Odeon Luxe’.
The total capacity is now 635 (plus 12 wheelchair spaces) with individual capacities ranging from 165 in Screen 1 to 76 in Screen 5.
It showed DOCTOR ZHIVAGO for a long period of time in late 1966, probably into 1967.
Very impressive on its nig screen.
Good to read that the Superscreen has all the latest projectors.
I presume though that the screen itself is still 1.85 necessitating that all Scope movies are shown letterboxed with no masking. This may be fine for bright day scenes but for dark or night scenes, I think this letterboxing makes a mockery of the presentation.
Additionally if the image is projected with the projector set to ‘Flat’ (as it will be), the sides of the image will be truncated; only 1998 horizontal pixels displayed instead of 2048, thus cutting the aspect ratio down to 2.32.
In all, somehow I don’t think the ‘Superscreen’ concept is quite as super as Cineworld would like us to believe.
The photo uploaded shows that the Supercreen is 1.85 Flat. I presume that all the other screens will be the same which seems to be the standard Cineworld policy nowadays.
Scope films, despite the fact that the majority of films are in Scope, have to be shown letterboxed with no masking. This is not, in my opinion, the proper cinema experience; it’s just a big TV set. Very disappointing.
Both screens are Scope with side masking and are of an impressive size.
Very dark during the film with no lights and black matte walls.
Screen 1 has reclining seats on a sloped floor. Screen 2 has stepped stadium seating.
Very good cafe/bar on the upper level.
In all, a very impressive cinema.
Cinema undergoing refurbishment to become Odeon Luxe. As of mid December Screens 5-8 have been refurbished and Screens 1-4 not.
Completion date not known but I presume it will be 1Q 2020.
That makes the aspect ratio 1.32. What a strange ratio; so both the old IMAX film ratio of 1.43 and the Digital Imax ratio of 1.90 are going to result in black bars top and bottom.
Whenever a standard Scope film is shown, there will be huge black bars top and bottom. This doesn’t seem like a very appealing proposition to me.