Blackwood’s Maxime cinema to reopen on November 9

Blackwood’s Maxime Cinema is set to reopen its doors again following Wales’ two-week “firebreak” lockdown.

The cinema was forced to close again by the Welsh Government when the Wales-wide lockdown began on October 23.

Social distancing measures, temperature checks, and cashless payments will all be in place when the cinema reopens on Monday, November 9.

The measures are the same as when the cinema first reopened in August following the first lockdown in March.

Steven Reynolds MBE, director of owners Picturedrome, said customers had “felt safe” when the cinema first reopened and will do so again on November 9. Each group of people will have at least four empty seats between them and the next group as well as having the row in front of them and behind empty.

Mr Reynolds, who was awarded an MBE in 2018 for services to the UK cinema industry, told Caerphilly Observer: “Everybody has their temperature taken when they come in and there are plenty of hand sanitisers throughout the cinema.

“Our staff are so good. People know them and they know they are in safe hands because of them.

Unlike the big chains, the independently-owned Maxime only charges £3.50 admission and relies on the sale of refreshments. It keeps its prices low because it wants cinema-going to be an affordable experience for everyone.

The second lockdown however has meant it has missed out on the lucrative half-term period when many families go to watch a film together.

Mr Reynolds said all of the films that would have been showing over half-term, such as The Secret Garden, Cats and Dogs 3, and Two by Two: Overboard!, all have plenty of showings over the coming week.

He added: “The people have supported the Maxime and we want to keep going.”

The Maxime, which employs 37 staff, was reopened in 2014 after it closed as a cinema 25 years earlier. Its refurbishment cost £1.5m and before the first national lockdown in March regularly attracted 300,000 visitors a year.

What’s on at the Maxime from November 9

A Christmas Gift From Bob; After We Collided; All My Life; Cats and Dogs 3: Paws Unite; Honest Thief; Max Winslow and the House of Secrets; Mick Fleetwood and Friends; The Craft: Legacy; The Last Shift; The Secret Garden; Two by Two: Overboard!; Words on Bathroom Walls.

For full details and screen times, please visit www.blackwoodcinema.co.uk or call 01495 225750.