Hollywood hits at century-old cinema
A historic provincial cinema has had its lifeline to Hollywood reconnected.
While many boutique and smalltown cinemas have struggled to keep the curtain raised, The Majestic Theatre in Taihape is set to roll out the red carpet for the latest Hollywood blockbusters after raising $80,000 to upgrade to a digitised projection system.
The cinema, which is open three days a week, ran out of new movies to screen in 2014, unable to keep pace with the industry’s progression from film projectors to digital systems. It was reduced to playing DVDS.
The money took two years to raise, with the cinema applying for grants and trying several novel fundraising ideas, such as asking farmers to donate the proceeds from lamb and ewe sales.
The Majestic Theatre manager Simone Simpson said a digital projector had now been bought and was on site, but they were waiting on the sound system to arrive from overseas.
The new system is expected to be up and running by the end of November and screening the summer blockbusters.
‘‘We can now show all the blockbusters and I imagine it’s going to go off very well.’’
The upgrade is a boost for movie-buffs in the provinces, where cinemas have struggled to remain viable amid changing technology and viewer habits.
The Regent in Pahiatua was saved in 2014 when the Central Energy Trust provided it with an $80,000 grant to upgrade to digital, while its namesake in Dannevirke has been closed since 2012. In the same year Reading shut down its multiplex in Hastings and two cinemas closed in Hamilton.
Simpson said The Majestic still had to secure rights to show films from distribution companies such as Disney and Roadshow Films. Once it had, they could plan for an opening weekend to debut the new theatre.
‘‘In the past, Taihape people have either had to go to Whanganui or Palmerston North to watch movies and if you’re taking a family it soon turns into a daytrip and gets very expensive.’’
Simpson said the theatre had no plans to increase its prices and would remain $12 for an adult and $10 for a student.