A cinema chain has announced it will be closing all but one of its South West picture houses until Easter 2021 – just days after it was thrown an £800,000 lifeline for its West Country venues.
Merlin Cinemas owns 16 movie theatres across the country, of which 13 are in the South West including the Phoenix Cinema, in Falmouth, and the Savoy Cinema, in Penzance.
Geoff Greaves, director of Merlin Cinemas, said the company would only be keeping the Regal Theatre, in Redruth, open after Christmas due to the uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic and a lack of new films being released by movie companies.
It comes after cinemas in the West Country received a welcomed cash boost from the Government's Culture Recovery Fund to keep them afloat during the pandemic.
The fund has provided £2.7million for 44 independent cinemas across the region with grants ranging from £243,405 for the Regent Centre in Christchurch, Dorset, to £675 for Bournemouth Colosseum Cinema.
Merlin has received £69,200 for each of its 13 South West cinemas in Bodmin, Torquay, Ilfracombe, Helston, Kingsbridge, Okehampton, Falmouth, Redruth, St Ives, Penzance, Coleford, Tiverton, and Wellington.
Mr Greaves said: "We're extremely grateful to the Government for providing money to support independent cinema and the money will make sure we survive to at least Easter by which times we hope things will be a little clearer."
Merlin has received £839,600 for its 13 West Country venues and Mr Greaves said: "We're confident that will help keep the company on track."
He added: "It's difficult to soldier on at the moment with the mixture of social distance and lack of new films, we have taken the decision to temporarily close the majority of our cinemas.
"We can't go on showing old films forever. We will be closing until Easter, but we are keeping the Regal Theatre in Redruth open."
Mr Greaves said the majority of staff will be placed on furlough with head office staff continuing to work along with some of the cinemas' managers.
Christmas is usually a time when cinemas make a lot of profit with big releases, such as last year's Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
This year's big release is Wonder Woman 1984, however, the latest announcement from Merlin means it will have had one of the shortest cinema runs ever, being shown on screens for fewer than two weeks.
Mr Greaves said: "It's a shame. It was good for Warner Bros to release it (Wonder Woman 1984). But the day it was released was the day cinemas in London were shut down.
"Consequently around a quarter of cinemas in the UK weren't able to open, plus they haven't had a major advertising campaign behind it (Wonder Woman 1984). As a result not a lot of people know it's actually being shown.
"These are strange times. We have had a year of interruption to cinema. We are all keeping optimistic hoping we will bounce back when the new Bond film is released at Easter."
However, according to Mr Greaves this will be the third time the anticipated No Time To Die has been rescheduled.
At the moment, only people living in Tiers 1 and 2 can visit cinemas.
Merlin Cinemas has been running at around a third of its capacity this year due to Covid regulations, and the number of tickets they can sell are largely determined by the size of people's social bubbles.
However, Mr Greaves said it's more than safe to visit the cinema and they have been following the Government's test-and-trace system.
Prior to Christmas Eve, Merlin was showing a mixed bag of movies at its venues. Mr Greaves said: "There's a mixture of about 12 films at most of our sites. We have some Christmas classics and fan favourites like Star Wars, then there's the new movies, as many as we could fit in, like Wonder Woman 1984 and Dreamland.
"We're delighted to see any of our customers and film fans come in. Yes, they only have until Christmas Eve to do that, but we will be back. And we will be keeping our film offering at the Regal Theatre for the foreseeable future."
He added: "We look forward to welcoming people back and when we do come along and enjoy a movie and get back into the habit of cinema going, that's all we can really ask for at the moment, it's difficult to suggest any other ways to support us.
"Going to the cinema is a different experience to streaming at home - the big screen, the sound, the experience of visiting the cinema and getting out of the house - I am not too concerned about the future of cinema. I think we will bounce back."
Meanwhile, WTW Cinemas which runs The Plaza Truro, the Regal Cinema in Wadebridge, the Lighthouse in Newquay, and St Austell’s White River Cinema, remains open, having received £171,566 for each of those outlets.
The cinema chain has also welcomed the recent cash boost from the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund.
Mark Williams, director of WTW Cinemas, said: “WTW Cinemas Ltd are very pleased to be receiving an award as part of the UK Cultural Recovery Fund.
“Having celebrated our 75th birthday in 2020, this year has undoubtedly been our most challenging but we now look forward to continuing to bring the Big Screen Experience for many years to come.
“We'd like to thank our hardworking and loyal staff for all they have done and all those who have supported us throughout this year.”
