Hong Kong’s Golden Scene Cinema has denied rumours circulating online of its closure and pledged to stay open, as seven movie theatres shuttered this year amid weak local consumption.
The Golden Scene Cinema in Kennedy Town told HKFP last Friday that it would continue operating and that rumours of its imminent closure were false.
The cinema, opened in February 2021, was rumoured to be closing as its lease expires next year. The speculation came as cinema chain MCL announced that its branch in Diamond Hill would close from Friday, becoming the seventh movie theatre to shutter this year.
Golden Scene Cinema two years ago extended its lease to 2029, according to local media reports.
“We will continue making efforts in the short run, the rumours of us closing online are untrue,” a spokesperson for Golden Scene Cinema told HKFP.
Among the cinemas to shutter this year was the 58-year-old President Theatre in Causeway bay.
The cinema sector “remains stuck far below pre-pandemic levels,” the Hong Kong Trade Development Council said in an industry report released in March.
Movie theatres were subject to capacity limits and intermittent closures because of Covid-19.
Total box office revenue in 2023 was HK$1.4 billion, which fell short of the HK$1.92 billion seen in 2019. Full-year box office figures for 2024 are expected to be released in January.
The Last Dance, a local production about the funeral parlour industry starring comedian Dayo Wong, has broken Hong Kong box office records, taking over HK$130 million as of Friday.
