Projection Room: a refurb nearly 15 years in the making

So let’s talk about the state of the cinema industry. It’s doing really, really well even with the threats of the 21st century. Sure, streaming is becoming more prevalent, with even the industry professionals at Cannes getting involved in the debate, piracy (which I do not condone in the slightest) is getting out of hand, and the general cinema experience, while it is still a big deal, is falling flat as a result of the so-called digital revolution- phone use and the higher quality home video releases of films (alongside increasing ticket prices) have made some people just avoid cinema altogether. But the medium of film is still here even with all of that chaos.

When I first stepped foot into a cinema screen just over 13 years ago, there was a certain, unique feel to it, and it wasn’t because of the good old days of 35mm projection. There was a sense of the key idea that anything is possible on the big screen. But now, in the digital age, many people see the modern multiplex as soulless, bland and way too generic for their liking. But in my case, my local cinema was very much retro. This summer, that very cinema went under the knife for an ambitious multi million pound refurbishment. The changes they’ve done were made to do one thing: get people to fall back in love with the best art form in the world, using the best seats, screens and sound in town.

Welcome Home: the local cinema gets more comfortable

As a lot of people will know, I see a lot of the films for this blog at Vue’s 7 screen cinema just outside Preston. I know this cinema inside and out, from the lack of bass in screen 3, right down to the missing seats in screen 5. It’s one of the oldest multiplex cinemas in the UK, opening in October 1991, and it’s seen very little investment since then. Not a single stadium seat in sight, sloped floors as the norm, varying qualities of sound, and a dated design that had that feel of nostalgia to it. For the last 3 years, the future of this place was in doubt with a big money move to a local shopping centre on the cards. But in late May last year, those plans were scrapped (it would take forever to explain why), and not too long after that, I was made aware of a little series of improvements that they have just finished delivering in this cinema. The image above is what that cinema looked like 4 months ago. Today, it looks more like this.

REDESIGN. REFURB, RECLINE.

Over the last 4 months, that cinema has received a significant amount of refurbishment work both on the exterior and in the foyer. For the regulars like myself, it’s been difficult, with a more limited selection of films, operating on between 2 and 4 screens, and lest we forget the 4pm weekday openings- but I do have to say a huge thanks to all of the construction teams, from the guys who worked on the front, to the team responsible for transforming the inside for absolutely nailing it while allowing the cinema to operate pretty much as normal. Even though I’ve been seeing films on a part time basis here since April, I’ve seen all of it unfold since the first hoardings went up, so as the cinema returns to normal operations today, I went hands on with the new stuff to give you all a first look at the cinema where all of my reviews will be done from this point onwards. This is a look at how one multiplex cinema reinvented itself for the 21st century.

The entire foyer experience has been enhanced, right from the outset with a multi-screen media wall showing promotions for the latest upcoming releases (adding that extra dimension to an already sublime shared viewing environment), and once you add what can only be described as one of the most diverse offerings of concessions I’ve ever seen in a cinema, you have a brilliant meeting place for a night of big screen excellence.

You can grab a pint or a bottle of wine at the Bar, you can create over 100 flavours of Coke at the Freestyle station, you can indulge on luxury Italian gelato sundaes, and of course, the important bit: the new self service Starbucks Earl Grey is brilliant. I’ve spoken quite a few times with the venue’s brilliant general manager Tom Mitchell and his team over the course of this refurb, keeping me in the loop on what has been going on, and he is quite rightly proud of the new look and feel of the cinema. Speaking of the staff, I have to give them a quick shout out- friendly, knowledgeable, and brilliant to work with, they have excelled during this refurb with the amount of disruption they’ve had to put up with, so seriously, give this cinema a go if you are in the area.

The screens themselves are unrecognisable- every seat has been ripped out and replaced with recliners (cutting the overall capacity to a very intimate 533 seats), and with no increase to the current ticket prices. Expect more ‘marathon’ review days as a result, as they are probably the best seats in the world. The sound systems have also been beefed up alongside the seating, as every screen now sports Dolby 7.1 surround sound, making this cinema become world class for the first time since 1992.

I’ve tested 5 of the 7 screens as I write this (and once this post is out, I’ll have tested another one), and all of them are near perfect, with screen 7 being my favourite purely due to the bigger ‘scope’ (technical jargon for ultra-wide) screen that has been installed. Add to that the incredibly diverse selection of films and alternative programming (from ballet to opera and live concerts) that the company have been championing, and this place is set to go for another 25 years at least. I can describe the new look perfectly- a state of the art commercial multiplex that uses a lot of things I’ve seen independent cinemas like Manchester’s HOME arts complex, and Liverpool’s Picturehouse @ FACT pioneer to great success.

Recliners + Earl Grey ÷ 7.1 surround = a new era of First Takes

So, what does that mean for the blog? More reviews, and more accurate ones at that, the majority of which will be written from the new seating area they’ve put in (a lot of the staff have labelled it my office already). With a world class cinema literally on my doorstep, films have never looked, sounded, or felt better. So sit back. Pour yourself a good cup of tea. Hit that button on the right to recline. Relax. And prepare for an incredible autumn slate of films.

A huge thanks to the entire team at Vue Preston for putting up with my weekly checkup visits for the last 4 months, and for making this post possible- the reviews return at 11.30pm tonight with The Dark Tower.