Silver screens shine again
The projectors are whirring again at Manawatu¯’s small-town cinemas, while the region’smultiplex is about to spark back to life.
Pahı¯atua’s Regent Upstairs Cinema and the Majestic Theatre in Taihape are screening films again, while Focal Point Cinemas reopened its Feilding and Levin theatres in May. Event Cinemas reopens its multiplex in Palmerston North tomorrow.
Regent Upstairs manager Bruce Lea said with the threat of coronavirus waning and the move to alert level 1 a lot of peoplewere keen to get back in front of the big screen.
After 24 days with no active cases, the Ministry ofhealth reported two new cases yesterday – both involving recent arrivals from the UK.
The Regent’s return was scheduled before last week’s alert level 1 announcement, because the cinema simply couldn’t last any longer with no income. The Regent is screening arthouse film All at Sea and The Call of The Wild, starring Harrison Ford.
‘‘Bothwere due to screen 12 weeks ago when we had to shut down, so we had them on file and all the posters. We weren’t sure if anything else would arrive on time.’’
World War II drama Resistance and The Professor and the Mad Man, starring Mel Gibson and Sean Penn, will premiere later this month.
There will bematinee screenings of family movies during the school holidays, including new animated film Red Shoes and The Seven Dwarves.
The Majestic Theatre in Taihape is older than colour or sound in movies, and has survived fires, floods and threats of demolition for more than 100 years.
Each time the Majestic was in trouble the community had come together to save it, so it was going to take more than the Covid-19 lockdown and a decimated schedule of new films to keep it from reopening.
Manager Simone Simpson said the cinema was lucky, and not just for the supportive community. ‘‘We own the building, sowe didn’t have rent, which is the killer cost for a lot of places.’’
The Majestic is screening arthouse films and previously shown favourites on Saturdays and Sundays only to see how patronage goes.
For the upcoming school holidays, Disney has a string of re-releases, including Frozen and Moana, available, and Simpson expects one or two new family movies to be released.
Event Cinema multiplex in Palmerston North will reopen tomorrow with a range of recently released movies, including The Assistant, All At Sea, and Jumanji: The Next Level. The first slate of new films set for release are scheduled for early next month, including Judd Apatow’s The King of Staten Island.