It was on this day 25 years ago that the Medina Movie Theatre – based at Medina Theatre – closed its doors for the last time.
The reason given for the demise of the Movie Theatre was the opening of the 11-screen Cineworld Complex at Coppins Bridge just months prior to Medina’s closure on on 1st November 2000.
Nobody had turned up for the opening of Scary Movie on the Monday and only 5 fans had turned up for the Tuesday screening.
The Medina Movie Theatre was managed by Filmwight, on behalf of the theatre. It was in operation for 10 years from 1990.
The Movie Theatre was the first cinema in the south of England to screen Mrs Brown in 1997 – which was partly filmed at Osborne House – and was also chosen for the premiere of The English Patient, directed by Islander Anthony Minghella.
During that decade, there were said to have been 10,000 cinema goers, with half attending films on a regular basis.
At the height of the popularity of cinemas in the 20th century, Newport had had 3 cinemas: the Grand on Mill Street, the Picturedrome on the High Street (now the Slug & Lettuce), and the Savoy on Pyle Street (now a block of flats).
More on the cinemas of Newport may be found in the following Island Echo article.
I REMEMBER THE SAOY CINEMA EXTREMELY WELL. AS BACK IN THE MID 1960s I WAS A PROJECTIONIST ALONGSIDE A PERSON MR BRENCHLEY . I WAS THER ABOUT 12MNTHS ,AND FIRST MET MY WIFE ,NOW MARRIED 57YRS WITH FAMILY OF 4. YES I ENJOYED MY TIME AT SAVOY .ALSO I WAS PROJECTIONIST AT MEDINA THEATRE ,IT WAS UPDATED AFTER RENNOVATION INTO A 3 SCREEN CINEMA AND THEATRE .WHEN IT WAS REOPENED I SHOWED THE MUSICAL ” SOUND OF MUSIC WITH JULIE ANDREWS. YES ENJOYABLE TIMES .