Interest
Prince Charles Cinema Bids For Second London Venue in Stratford
posted on by Andrew Osmond
The Prince Charles Cinema, a London independent cinema which frequently screens anime films, has confirmed on X/Twitter that it is currently bidding to open a second London venue, by taking over the site of an old Picturehouse Cinema in Stratford. It has submitted a bid to Newham Council to this end.
According to the statement, this is seen as a "hopeful addition" to the current Prince Charles Cinema, just off Leicester Square, rather than a replacement for it. "Our drive is to grow what we're doing and in doing so, keep cinemas as cinemas."
Paul Vickey, head of programming, told “Given what's happened this year, I understand how it could look like we're trying to shift operations but that's not what's happening. We were looking for a pre-existing venue that needed a bit of love which we could turn into a new site. Ideally, we'd want to go on to add a third or fourth space.”
In January 2025, the Prince Charles Cinema had claimed that its Leicester Square venue was threatened by unreasonable demands and intimidation tactics from its landlords, Zedwell LSQ Ltd and its parent company, Criterion Capital.
The cinema regularly shows anime films, especially Studio Ghibli titles, Satoshi Kon films, and Akira and Ghost in the Shell. It has also screened some films presented by the hosts of the Ghibliotheque podcasts, including Memories, The Animatrix and Jin-Roh - The Wolf Brigade.
The cinema's upcoming anime screenings in August and September include Ghost in the Shell (August 15), Spirited Away (dub on August 24, subtitled version on September 9), Redline (August 31), Memories (September 21), Millennium Actress (September 24) and Paprika (September 26)
The Prince Charles Cinema is the last independent repertory cinema operating in London's West End. It screens a wide range of films from around the world, as well as numerous special events such as themed all-night movie marathons.
