Penrith’s under-threat Alhambra cinema has found itself “in the pink” this summer, thanks to Barbie coming to the rescue.
It has been a blockbuster few months for the town cinema, with staff reporting there had been some “daft numbers” and many of the busiest days they have had for more than a decade.
Some months ago the Herald reported that the situation for the historic picture house looked bleak, with staff and owners urging people to “use it or lose it”, as attendance figures slumped.
But for now at least, the picture is much improved and cinema manager Matt Bainbridge said there had been a good build-up to the summer with Indiana Jones and Mission Impossible driving a rise in admission numbers.
The “big date” which fuelled a frenzy of cinema-going was 21st July, when pink sensation Barbie and thought provoking Oppenheimer were both released — just as the school holidays began.
“It dropped at a really good time because not only did we have audiences coming who weren’t at school or maybe had time off from work, we also had tourists coming to the area as well, which is always really good and always helps to build the cinema,” said Matt.
He said the double dose of big-hitting box office movies had been “absolutely brilliant”.
In March, the price of all tickets at the cinema was dropped to £5 as part of a trial, which has continued throughout the summer, along with a strong “use it or lose it” message.
“I think we were expecting it to be busy, particularly for Barbie. I had said that I felt that Barbie would be the film of the summer, if not the year,” said Matt.
But the magical combination of Barbie and Oppenheimer opening on the same day and the online marketing push which came from people all talking about “Barbenheimer” had provided an unexpected boost.
“On that evening (21st July), I was kind of stunned by the numbers that we had.
“Barbie was selling out the biggest screen and Oppenheimer was showing in screen two and screen three, and again selling out screens, so it has been brilliant,” said Matt.
At the Alhambra, from the start of the summer to last Thursday, Barbie has had 4,686 admissions and Oppenheimer 2,407.
“Barbie has just drawn in everyone. It has been really good, it has been so busy,” said Matt
It puts the film in sixth place of the Penrith Alhambra’s best selling films since 2012, just behind Top Gun Maverick, which was the big hit of last year.
The number one spot is still held by the 2012 James Bond film Skyfall, with Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, released in 2018, in second place.
But with the combination of Barbie and Oppenheimer, the cinema has had a busier time this summer, than last year.
However, Matt said he would be very cautious about saying that Barbie had “saved the cinema”.
“We have really busy periods where everybody is coming to the cinema again with Barbenheimer and then, like has happened in the past week, it suddenly drops off and we are back down to single figure screenings again,” said Matt.
But he added: “Barbie and Openheimer have been an absolutely brilliant kickstart to the summer after the struggles since COVID.”
Barbie is one of those films which Matt hopes people will have lasting memories of, having experienced it in the cinema, which will make them want to come back for more.
“It has given us a bit more hope, definitely. We are looking towards next year and we will be doing as many exciting things as we possibly can to lead up into next year as well,” said Matt.
Supervisor Jonny Carswell said it had been a “blockbuster summer” for the Penrith cinema.
“There has been some daft numbers — some of the busiest days we have had for 12 years,” said Jonny, who added that he thought the (wet and cool) weather had also helped.
“It has been a good boost. The summer has been flat out. Very busy,” said Jonny.
