Cinema Closure Date Confirmed

Odeon has announced its cinema in Kettering will close for good on January 28th.

It was announced earlier this year the eight-screen out-of-town venue was to shut down.

The confirmation will come as a blow to cinema goers from the Harborough area who travel down the A14 to watch films.

More than 2,000 people had signed a petition to pledge their support for the venue and halt its closure.

In a statement, Odeon said it made the decision to shut the complex in Pegasus Court following ‘constructive, but ultimately unsuccessful negotiations’.

However, it has announced a new ‘Odeon Luxe’ cinema will open in Northampton next year.

The cinema will close at the end of January

The owner of the Kettering site, Augur Group, attributed the decision to shut the cinema to a ‘significant drop’ in attendance over the past five years, and said the venue was ‘no longer viable’.

It has announced plans to ‘re-purpose’ the land for ‘open storage’ – land on which equipment, products, items and objects can be stored, or used for off-site parking.

The Hobson’s Choice pub on the site shut its doors earlier this year, Frankie and Benny’s restaurant closed in 2022 and a former Indian restaurant has been empty for over a decade.

A spokesperson for Augur Group said: “We bought Pegasus Court at the start of 2024, and it has been struggling as a leisure destination for a long time.

“Unfortunately, there just weren’t enough people visiting to sustain the restaurants or for the Odeon to continue as a viable multiplex cinema.

“We have submitted a planning application to repurpose the site for open storage.

“This will immediately bring the land back into productive use, provide new jobs and keep the site secure so that it does not become a magnet for crime and anti-social behaviour.”

The application has been submitted to North Northamptonshire Council and will be decided through the council’s planning process.