ODEON Tight-lipped on Park Royal Plans
Still no confirmation that the Acton area is getting another cinema
The former Vue Acton cinema Park Royal. Picture: Google Streetview
Speculation continues that the Acton area is poised to get another cinema following the appearance of ODEON signage at the former Vue site in Park Royal.
Vue announced that it was vacating the site next to the A40 Western Avenue in July 2020 after failing to agree terms with its landlord over a new lease. It had been closed for the previous three months following the coronavirus outbreak.
The Vue cinema was a nine screen complex and there remain other leisure activities on the site including bowling. The large Pizza Hut at the location has also recently been dismantled.
At the time the landlord had suggested there was a plan to redevelop the site which explained its reluctance to grant a new lease.
When asked whether they were planning to open a cinema in Park Royal a spokesperson for ODEON told us that they were ‘unable to provide further info at this time’ but indicated that there may be more information to share in the near future.
If ODEON does open a multiplex on the site it would represent a return to the area for the group. In March 1944, the company bought the Ritz Cinema which was on the site of what is now a Premier Inn hotel. After the war this was rebranded as an ODEON and remained so until December 1967 when it was sold off to the Classic chain of cinemas. Not long afterwards it switched to being a Bingo club but within three years it had become the Tatler Cinema Club and was screening adult movies. In 1974 it was taken over by a new company and became the named Paradise Cinema which specialised in Asian movies. By 1980 this too had closed and the building was demolished in 1983 to be replaced by an office block and then later the hotel.
Since the closure of the Vue was not without a cinema for long with the opening of the ActOne cinema in the old library building on the High Street.
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May 5, 2022