SAVE THE PRINCE CHARLES CINEMA
Sign the petition: https://38d.gs/SaveThePrinceCharlesCinema
If you wish to write us to offer your support, please email: savethepcc@princecharlescinema.com
The Prince Charles Cinema is not only a popular and successful local independent business with a large, loyal community of fans, but culturally important as perhaps the UK’s most famous cinema. We are renowned throughout the industry for our programme of over 850 films a year, spanning the history of cinema, across just two screens.
We are one of the last remaining independent cinemas in central London, receiving no public funding and attracting over 250,000 customers a year at a time when the industry is struggling. As a significant local landmark, we act as an anchor institution for the Leicester Square community, as well as the wider film and creative sectors.
Under Section 26 of the 1954 Landlord and Tenants Act we are legally entitled to a new lease at market rates unless our landlord can prove certain very specific conditions. We applied for a new lease at the earliest possible opportunity with a reasonable rental offer based on the market analysis of two highly reputable specialist cinema surveyors, acting independently of each other.
We are disappointed that our landlords Zedwell LSQ Ltd and their parent company Criterion Capital have demanded the inclusion of a break clause that would require us to vacate the premises at 6 months’ notice, should they receive planning permission to redevelop the building, which we interpret as a clear intention to do so.
Moreover, they are also demanding a rent far above market rates, at a level which no cinema proprietor would consider reasonable and refusing to supply any information to back this up.
We believe that these tactics amount to an attempt by Criterion Capital and its subsidiaries to use their significant financial resources to intimidate us, regardless of our legal entitlement.
We will be raising legal proceedings to contest their valuation of the lease in the strongest possible terms. We are confident that in doing so we will be allowed to renew at market rate, but we urge them to come to the table and settle on reasonable terms without the need for a protracted legal process.
Please sign and share the petition here: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/save-the-prince-charles-cinema
Share your memories of the cinema using #SaveThePCC on X, Instagram and other social media platforms.
No, we aren’t going anywhere!
Whilst the lease is due to expire in Sept 2025, as it is within the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (the Act), we are legally entitled to a new lease. We have applied to the court for a new lease of a minimum of 15 years at the going market rent and on similar terms to our existing lease.
The landlord, however, has responded to our claim seeking to include a redevelopment break clause (among other terms) in the new lease that would entitle them to terminate the lease at 6 months’ notice at any time once the new lease has commenced.
This would mean that the future of the cinema would be under permanent threat of closure. Our lawyers have advised that we can argue against the court ordering such a redevelopment break clause.
No, the cinema is thriving and has never been so busy.
In 2024, we recorded record attendance for the 2nd year in a row, with over a quarter of a million tickets sold at an unprecedented level of capacity.
The Act is a piece of legislation which governs commercial tenancies across England and Wales. It gives tenants of qualifying leases of commercial premises occupied for business purposes the right to renew their lease after it expires at market rent and on similar terms to its existing lease. Tenants are entitled to apply to court to enforce those rights.
The Act remains a central feature of the UK commercial property market.
The Act was introduced to protect the commercial property market from spiralling rents. Before the Act passed, businesses that had built up a trade over years of trading in a particular location were vulnerable to landlords demanding rents well above the market value in exchange for a new lease. The Act prevented this practice by giving tenants a right to a new lease and at a rent based on what was available in the market.
The Prince Charles Cinema’s lease with the landlord is due to expire at the end of Sept 2025, however, as the tenant, we have a statutory right to renew it on terms to be determined by the court. The landlord failed to oppose our request for a renewal within the required timeframe and has therefore lost the ability to refuse to grant us a new lease.
The landlord is, however, seeking to introduce a redevelopment break clause into the renewal lease which would require them to also prove one of the grounds of opposition (detailed above) if they were to want to determine the renewal lease.
Should the landlord seek to do this, we would vigorously contest this in court.
Always! We want to be able to share our love of movies for many years to come and that means continual investment is essential in ensuring the audience experience is as enjoyable as possible.
Over the years, this has meant consistent investment in improving the fabric of the building as well as in our technical ability to show the widest possible selection of films in every possible format from 35/70mm to 4k Digital.
A lack of long-term security of tenure, however, makes investment impossible to justify which inevitably poses an ongoing threat to the future sustainability of the cinema.
Statement from Ben Freedman, Managing Director of The Prince Charles Cinema
The Prince Charles Cinema was built in 1961 as a Theatre becoming a cinema in the mid-sixties. It developed a bohemian reputation with films such as Last Tango in Paris, Straw Dogs, Emmanuelle and Caligula but when we took it over in 1991 we set out to make it the most welcoming, genuine and exciting celebration of going to the movies possible.
Under our stewardship, the cinema has become known for its unique range of programming and a home for anyone that loves experiencing films the best way possible. With other people, in the dark, in the cinema.
In 2024, we showed 858 different films selling over 250,000 tickets. At a time when cinemas continue to close throughout the world, we are happy to buck the trend with a variety of films that is unmatched anywhere else. With our determination to show any movie that will fill our auditoria, as long as they are legal, we offer something for every possible taste. Japanese animation, all-nighters, Horror October, Xmas December, Singalonga shows, Tommy Wiseau’s The Room as well as continuous celebrations of filmmakers from all around the world make sure we are busy throughout the year.
At the heart of our success is an experienced team that is continuously focused on running an independent cinema that can thrive in the future in a very difficult marketplace. This means we can’t stand still and have a list of venue improvements in place once we obtain the security of a lease extension.
These plans would protect and improve the building’s features and capacity to present the widest variety of films seen anywhere in the world, while retaining the two screens and seating capacity of 404, meaning the cinema will continue to be open to the community.
However, by refusing to come to the table and negotiate a new lease for the venue as well as demanding a redevelopment clause, the landlord has made it abundantly clear they are not interested in seeing The Prince Charles Cinema continue to thrive.
In simple terms, if the Landlord decides to redevelop the site, The Prince Charles Cinema will be lost forever.
But their plan to redevelop will not only destroy just another cinema.
The Prince Charles Cinema is truly irreplaceable. Nothing like it exists, not just in the West End, London and UK but anywhere in the world from Hollywood, New York, Paris, Rome, Tokyo or even The Little Prince Cinema, Stratford Ontario.
It would mean losing not just an iconic cultural institution, but also an engine for the economy of the West End that brings people from all over London and the surrounding area to watch films, shop and eat and drink. This would have repercussions way beyond the building itself.
We can’t let that happen.
“The Prince Charles has a place in my heart. It’s the people, the programming, the accessibility, feeling, texture… you cannot go wrong. You also know that on any given day, you can close your eyes, press your finger to the programme, and you’ll hit something great. It’s like tuning into your favourite radio station.” – Paul Thomas Anderson
#SaveThePCC
If you wish to write us to offer your support, please email: savethepcc@princecharlescinema.com