Update on Blackpool's Backlot Cinema as movie-goers await opening

Work on the shell of the building, which is an extension to the Houndshill Shopping Centre, is almost complete as part of a £21m investment including £5m of funding from the Government’s COVID-19 Getting Building Fund.

It had been hoped fitting out would begin in August, but the work is now not expected to start until October as part of a further £6m investment which will include an Imax screen.

Blackpool Council said no firm date has yet been set for the opening of the new cinema.

The fit out will see seating, screens, e-sports gaming and ancillary areas installed into the building constructed on the site of the former Tower Street car park.

There will be nine screens in total, 850 luxury seats and the Backlot Diner which will occupy restaurant space in the scheme.

Blackpool is currently without a mainstream cinema after the Odeon on Rigby Road closed in June this year when the lease came to an end.

Planning permission is now being sought to use that site as a self-storage facility, with food and drink outlets at the front, after previous proposals to convert the building for mixed leisure use such as 10 pin bowling failed to attract an operator.

The nearest mainstream cinema to Blackpool is The Vue on North Promenade in Cleveleys.

Blackpool also boasts The Regent independent cinema on Church Street which re-opened in 2016 and shows classic films. It first opened in 1921 and has also been used as a bingo hall.