6 hours ago
The Prince Charles cinema is planning to expand to a second site in the capital despite being locked in a battle over the future of its original location in central London.
The independent cinema, which is known for showing a wide-ranging selection of cult films from across the history of cinema, has put in a bid to take over and reopen what was the Stratford Picturehouse in east London.
The Prince Charles is in negotiations with Zedwell LSQ Ltd (which is owned by the developers Criterion Capital) over the future of the Leicester Square site, but wants to expand in what could be the first of several new outposts.
“Given what’s happened this year, I understand how it could look like we’re trying to shift operations but that’s not what’s happening,” said Paul Vickery, the cinema’s head of programming.
“We were looking for a pre-existing venue that needed a bit of love which we could turn into a new site. Ideally, we’d want to go on to add a third or fourth space.”
The Prince Charles had looked previously into taking over the Filmhouse in Edinburgh, which was forced to close in 2022 before it reopened in June this year after a refurbishment.
Vickery thinks Stratford – an area that has undergone huge regeneration over the past decade, boosted by the Olympic legacy of London 2012 – could be an ideal place to open a new outpost.
“Stratford has always been a hub,” he said. “There are plenty of students and loads of new-build properties that have sprung up recently. But it also feels like it’s still trying to find its feet and figure out what it is.”
The Prince Charles Cinema East would join other cultural institutions such as Soho Theatre Walthamstow, Sadler’s Wells East and the V&A East Storehouse in that part of London, while the Theatre Royal Stratford East would be a nearby neighbour.
The cinema has high-profile international fans, including the directors Paul Thomas Anderson, Quentin Tarantino and John Waters. It was opened as a live theatre in 1962 and taken over as a repertory cinema in 1991 with cut-price seats.
When news broke that the cinema could be forced out of its original location in Leicester Square, a petition against the move generated 100,000 signatures in a single day.
Vickery said: “The response was so humbling, I knew we’d have a load of interest in helping us out but the volume of support and speed with which it spread was a surprise.
“You feel the responsibility but in the best possible way. You’re not just some pokey cinema in central London, what we do means something to people.”
