King's Theatre

Located in the Te Aro district in the south of the city centre. The King’s Theatre was opened on 16th March 1910 and was the first purpose-built cinema in New Zealand. It opened with 1,500-seats the architect was James Bennie. It was operated by T.J. West and was later operated by Fuller-Hayward. In 1919 it was taken over by William Kemble. In 1930 it was equipped for ‘talkies’. In 1937 it was taken over by the Amalgamated Theatres chain and they modernised the cinema in an Art Deco style to the plans of Wellington based architectural firm Natusch and Sons. The King’s Theatre was closed in 1942 due to damage in the earthquake and it reopened in July 1943.

In later years it was equipped to screen 70mm films and the seating capacity was reduced to 1,117. On 4th April 1980 it was closed for twinning, reopening in 1981 as the King’s Cinema Centre. It was one of the first cinemas in New Zealand to have this treatment. It was closed in 1988 and was demolished to build an office block on the site.

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