City cinema to close ‘with great sadness’

A Bath cinema closes tomorrow with no date set for its reopening.

The Little Theatre Cinema will shut along with all other Picturehouse and Cineworld Cinemas in the UK and Ireland.

The company says the closure comes because film studios pushed back release dates of their films meaning cinemas cannot afford to stay open with such little business. A total of 45,000 jobs across the globe could be at risk due to the closures.

The company said in a message to customers: “It’s with great sadness that Picturehouse Cinemas will be temporarily closing all cinemas from Friday, October 9. At present there is no set date for reopening, however we will continue to monitor the situation closely and will communicate any updates once film studios are able to bring their major film releases back to the big screen.

“We will also continue to follow government and health authority guidelines to ensure that upon reopening, the health and safety of our staff and customers remains our priority.

“We cannot reiterate enough how difficult this decision was, and how devastated we are to be in this position. We did everything in our power to support the safe, sustainable reopenings of our cinemas, and we are very grateful to our employees who adapted quickly to their new roles so that our cinemas adhered to the government guidelines to ensure that our customers had a safe and enjoyable experience with us.

“We are sorry that many of you heard the news through the press before we had the opportunity to contact you directly.

“We’re so grateful for the support of all our customers over the last few months; your loyalty to and passion for cinema is invaluable. We look forward to welcoming you back as soon as possible to enjoy a full slate of films on the big screen.”