The Prince Charles Cinema off Leicester Square has secured its future with a new 25-year lease, ending a long-running dispute with its landlord, The Standard has reported. The independent two-screen cinema announced on Thursday that it had signed the lease with no break clause, after 21 months of uncertainty and a costly legal battle with landlord Zedwell LSQ Ltd and its parent company, Criterion Capital.
The cinema had said its landlords wanted a break clause that would force it to leave within six months if the site were redeveloped, along with a rent it said no cinema could reasonably pay. Criterion had previously denied any intimidation.
The Prince Charles, which sells around 250,000 tickets a year, was backed by filmmakers and actors including Quentin Tarantino, Danny Boyle, Christopher Nolan and Paul Mescal, and by the 168,645 people who signed a petition. In its statement, the cinema thanked the Soho Society for recommending that Westminster City Council list it as an Asset of Community Value, and the council for doing so.
Cllr Paul Swaddle, Leader of Westminster City Council, said: "The Prince Charles Cinema is a landmark not only in Westminster but for cinema goers everywhere. This is great news and Westminster City Council is pleased to have played a supporting role in keeping the venue going. Long may the projectors keep rolling!"
Built as a theatre in 1961 and a cinema since the mid-1960s, the Prince Charles is known for its all-nighters, sing-along screenings and films rarely shown anywhere else.
You can read Patrick Daly's article in The Standard in full here.
