London's beloved Prince Charles Cinema is under threat — here's how you can help save it
After 62 years, the famous cinema believes its landlord wants to redevelop the site.
One of London’s key cinematic institutions may be at risk of closure: Leicester Square’s Prince Charles Cinema.
The independent cinema has launched its own “Save The Prince Charles Cinema” petition, which has already received more than 100,000 signatures. Get your name on that list, too.
It just celebrated its 62nd birthday, so what’s changed?
The Prince Charles cinema says its landlord wants to apply a new clause in its lease that could see the proprietors turfed out. And the current lease only lasts until September 2025.
“We feel that this demand amounts to a clear attempt by Zedwell LSQ Ltd… to use their significant financial resources to disregard our legal entitlement to a new lease and bully us out of the building once the existing one ends in Sept 2025,” reads the petition page.
Zedwell LSQ Ltd owners Criterion Capital want the Prince Charles Cinema to accept a 6-month break clause in their coming agreement. And the cinema owners have taken this as a “clear intention” the plan is to begin redevelopment of the site and force the closure of the iconic venue. That break clause means the Prince Charles Cinema could be asked to leave with just six months' notice.
The cinema also accuses the landlords of “demanding a rent far above market rates.” What it wants is a 15-year lease, so it can continue operating with some degree of certainty.
Leicester Square is packed with cinemas, but the Prince Charles is the most interesting of the lot by some distance.
Today alone the cinema is screening La Haine, Wild at Heart and Pulp Fiction alongside the more recent The Substance.
Within the next week and change you can catch Jodorowsky’s Dune, Stalker, a live “In Conversation” event with Ralph Fiennes and a sing-along screening of The Greatest Showman.
There’s a bit more going on here than in your average Odeon or Cineworld (but we love those too.)
The Prince Charles cinema, according to its own figures, screened 858 films in 2024, and sold upwards of a quarter of a million tickets.
London versus the real estate moguls
It’s the second petition this month to rail against Criterion Capital’s plans to close down London institutions in favour of redevelopment. The Central YMCA Club in Great Russell Street was recently sold to the property giant in what the petition calls a “secret deal.”
The YMCA venue, which is central London’s biggest gym, is set to close in February.
Criterion Capital also owns London's Trocadero and the Criterion Building near Piccadilly Circus, and is run by billionaire Asif Aziz.
According to interview with Aziz by Professional Wealth Management, his focus is on "buying and developing “end of life buildings and derelict spaces”, before repositioning them as hotels or affordable flats."
Let's hope that doesn't happen to the Prince Charles Cinema, as one of the few places with a bit of soul left around Leicester Square.
