Cannon Havant

31 East Street,
Havant, PO9 1AA

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Cannon Cinemas, Shipman & King Cinemas Ltd., Star Cinemas

Architects: Robin Audrey Thomas

Previous Names: Empire Cinema, Studio Cinema

Nearby Theaters

Cannon Havant

The Empire Cinema replaced an earlier Empire Cinema which was on North Street in the town of Havant, Hampshire. It was opened in August 1936 by independent Empire Cinema (Havant) Ltd. The proscenium was 24 feet wide.

In February 1949, it was taken over by the Shipman & King circuit, and in the mid-1950’s, the proscenium was altered to accommodate CinemaScope. In the late-1960’s the S & K circuit were taken over by Thorn EMI, and part-time bingo began, and the Empire Cinema was re-named Studio Cinema, operated by the Star Cinemas chain. In 1976, it was renamed Empire Cinema again, and the part-time bingo was dropped.

In 1986, it was taken over by the Cannon Cinemas chain and re-named Cannon. It was closed on 26th March 1987. There were many protests about this, and other uses such as church or nightclub were hoped for, but nothing happened and the building became derelict. It was demolished in August/September 1994 and a block of flats named Empire Court was built on the site.

Contributed by Ken Roe

Recent comments (view all 1 comments)

Biffaskin
Biffaskin on December 13, 2025 at 4:13 am

Cine-Bingo was introduced by Star Group who had leased the building from ABC/EMI in the late 1970’s. This ceased when ABC/EMI took back the property in October 1975.

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