Keswick’s Alhambra Cinema is inviting people to fall back in love with cinema this summer with a £5 Friday deal.
During Covid, a trip to the cinema was obviously impossible, but across the UK cinema audiences remain around 30 per cent below pre-outbreak levels. Falling attendances and soaring energy bills are causing havoc in the industry. Even the largest chains are not immune, with the UK’s largest, Cineworld, in administration.
The UK Cinema Association’s research suggests that many people have forgotten the magic of cinema.
“Nothing beats a trip to the cinema,” said Jonathan Moore, co-owner of the Alhambra. “In our newly-refurbished cinema you can sink into our luxury seats, enjoy a drink from the bar and immerse yourself in the full big screen experience. No interruptions, just you, your friends and the movie.”
Jonathan says he hopes people will reconsider visiting their local cinema, especially as there is a wealth of great films being released this summer, the production of many were held back until now because of the Covid lockdowns in previous years.
To inspire people to return to the cinema, the Alhambra is launching a summer of £5 Fridays. Every film ticket on Fridays will cost just £5, including the latest blockbusters.
Jonathan picked Friday for this offer to help reach as many local residents as possible. “Changeover day in Keswick is Friday; tourists are coming and going and we know that the cinema has always had a proportionately greater local audience on Friday,” says co-owner Carol Rennie.
Big blockbusters about to hit the Alhambra’s two screens include Harrison Ford returning to his starring role as Indiana Jones, now ably supported by Phoebe Waller-Bridge (who is also starring in Fleabag at the cinema this month). Tom Cruise’s eagerly anticipated Mission Impossible film, partly filmed locally to Keswick, opens in July in line with its global release.
Then in August, Peaky Blinders’ Cillian Murphy stars in Oppenheimer, directed by Christopher Nolan, a meaty film about the development of the nuclear bomb. That will be more than balanced by Greta Gerwig’s post-ironic bringing-to-life of Barbie, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling – a wonderful piece of energetic summer entertainment.
Alongside the blockbusters there’s a wealth of other films, including indie and world-cinema choices, live events and concerts and family and kids films throughout the summer, including some screenings each week with subtitles for those who prefer them.
With the cinema fully refurbished and getting five-star reviews Jonathan and co-owner Carol Rennie hope this scheme will help Keswick rediscover its love of cinema this summer.
