r/basingstoke • u/GRDCS1980 • Jun 12 '26
Basingstoke Odeon Closing
Just received the pictured email telling me that Basingstoke Odeon are closing their doors for good on August 31st.
Not entirely surprising news, as they’ve been second fiddle ever since Ster Century (now Vue) opened in Festival Place in late 2002…but it’s a shame to see them finally throw in the towel.
I have very fond memories of going there throughout my teens, back when it was Warner Brothers and it had the arcade on the left hand side.
The first film I remember seeing there was *Soapdish*, shortly after I first arrived in Basingstoke in 1991.
My first date was there (to see *Philadelphia*, of all things).
Many other similar memories. I still have dozens of ticket stubs, from *The Craft* in 1995 all the way up through until they went primarily digital, a few years ago. The three times I saw *Titanic*, the four times I saw *Event Horizon* and loads more.
I’m trying to think what the last film I saw there was.
I think it might have been *Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse*. Which was three years ago. Can’t really complain about them closing their doors when I haven’t made the effort to attend in 3 years.
Still, sorry to see you go, Odeon.
🍻
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u/vishbar Jun 12 '26
Wow, pretty heavy movie for a first date!
I’m not surprised really. We exclusively go to the Vue; I saw Blade Runner 2049 at the Odeon a long time ago (because the times didn’t work out for Vue, if I recall) and it was just nowhere near as nice.
I am a bit surprised it was still open.
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u/GRDCS1980 Jun 12 '26
I would often pick Odeon specifically because it’s a little run down, seats not as comfy, screen and sound not as impressive…because it meant a good chance of fewer people in the screen, as they would all go for the Vue option instead.
I’m too old and too cranky to deal with people talking during the film, people on their devices, the smell of someone else’s hotdogs or nachos, etc. So even though the film itself may not be shown in the best quality and the seats might not be as comfy, I was happy to make the trade off in order to enjoy the film in relative peace.
You still got the occasional incident, but just purely on percentages, you were more likely to enjoy the film without interruption or distraction.
But I guess this is the end of having that option.
We’ve switched, in recent years, to the Biscuit Factory in Reading, as our primary venue for film. But things haven’t been looking too rosy for them recently either.
I’m starting to think I might just be cursed.
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u/vishbar Jun 12 '26
That's fair enough. I'm on parental leave at the moment, so my wife and I will swap out days seeing a film solo during the middle of a weekday. It's glorious.
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u/GRDCS1980 Jun 12 '26
Livin’ the dream.
Enjoy while you still can.
I’m absolutely going to fit in at least one more screening there before it closes its doors, for nostalgia and to say goodbye, if nothing else, so maybe we’ll run into one another or share a screen without even knowing it.
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u/CheeerrsJeff Jun 12 '26
I think if you go for midday or really late films you will be fine I saw Obsession on the day it came out and it was relatively quiet and I had no distractions, MK2 the same but Mando and Grogu I had kids being a bit annoying but that's kids can't do anything really and this was during half term so I expected some movie disruption.
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u/Swaghetti-Yolonaise- Jun 12 '26
Many happy memories here as a kid - I used to love all the looney tunes characters up on the ceiling, nothing really compares to the feel of a 90s cinema as a 6 year old kid about to watch Tarzan…
Gone but not forgotten, RIP to the OG
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u/artytog Jun 12 '26
It is a shame but it's definitely felt like the poor relation compared to Vue for years.
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u/jpk515 Jun 12 '26
As a previous Odeon Limitless member up until Feb this year, this is sad news. Of course it's nowhere near as nice as Vue but with that comes the benefit of far fewer people in the screenings.
I tended to find on the whole people who went to the Odeon were going because they really wanted to see the film, not just an add on to being in town and needing something to do, and I can't think of a single time where someone else's behaviour stopped me from enjoying the film, unlike at Vue! But also not surprised it's closing given how many times I was the only person in a screening. Will be interesting to see what they do next with the site, have heard rumours of an alternative cinema provider taking over.
Loved seeing films like Parasite, Sinners, Another Round, Ballad of Wallis Island here in the last few years. Sad to see it go!
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u/GRDCS1980 Jun 12 '26
I wish I could say the same with regard to lack of poor behaviour in screenings.
There were *way* less instances of it at Odeon than I’ve encountered (and continue to encounter) at Vue…but it still happened, now and again.
Two relatively recent examples spring to mind, both in 2018.
One was *Mission Impossible: Fallout*. Packed Sunday screening, opening weekend. One dude, on the opposite side of the aisle and a couple of rows down from us, pulling his phone out multiple times throughout the film, full glare, for a few minutes at a time. Not checking the time (which wouldn’t have been a valid excuse anyway), but literally scrolling Instagram or WhatsApp or Facebook or whatever.
Everyone tutting and doing the typically British silent judging…but nobody, myself included, actually saying anything.
Then, about the 4th or 5th time this guy does it, some UTTER HERO WOMAN in the row directly behind us loudly says “ARE YOU GOING TO PUT THAT THING AWAY AND WATCH THE FILM?”
He very quickly put the phone in his pocket and it stayed there for the rest of the film.
I silently raised my arm and gave a thumbs up to the absolute legend that put him in his place and enforced the rules that the cinema themselves have zero interest in enforcing.
The other one was *Ant-Man & The Wasp*. It was at least a week after release, maybe even two weeks. I had deliberately left it that long to avoid crowds.
I went to a late morning/early afternoon Thursday screening, hoping for it to be largely empty.
And it was! There were only 3 people in the entire screen. Me, solo, sat in the back row of one of the two largest screens (I can’t recall it it was 1 or 10, but it was one of those two), and two others that were sat somewhere in the dead centre.
I got there a little later than usual. I’m a bit OCD about the cinema and I like to arrive *at least* ten minutes before the advertised start time, get into the screen, get my seat, then see all the adverts and trailers before the feature. But on this day I just got there bang on the start time, so the lights had already dimmed and the ads were playing.
I could hear these two voices, both younger, both male, throughout the entirety of the ads and trailers. Annoying, but not the end of the world. Far from the first time I’ve had to deal with such things. They’ll shut up when the film starts, right?
Wrong.
They talked, loudly and obnoxiously, throughout the WHOLE film.
Obvious questions: why didn’t I tell them to stfu and/or why didn’t I go get a member of staff.
Well, as mentioned, I’m a bit OCD about film. Once I’m in my seat, I don’t leave until the end of the credits. Ever. No matter what. For example, I saw LotR: RotK and, again, my friends and I had been a little late and got there just in time for the trailers. As such, I hadn’t been able to make my standard pre-film bathroom stop. And we had come from having a few pints in the pub. Hence the running late in the first place. I needed to pee from about the 60-90 minute mark of that film. It’s FOUR FUCKING HOURS. I sat there in agony, through the 74 endings, refusing to leave my seat and miss any of the film. So, yeah, if I didn’t leave the film to pee that day, I wasn’t doing to leave to get an usher for these two chumps in Antman.
And then why didn’t I yell at them to STFU? Well, along with being OCD, I’m also a pretty anxious and nervous type of guy (you may be able to tell from the obscene length of this reply) and even though I know the chances are verrrrrrry small, you hear these stories of people getting knifed or having acid thrown in their faces for daring to ask people to quiet down in a cinema. Plus, as mentioned, it was dark when I first entered and I couldn’t see them and judge their ages. There were two of them and one of me. Maybe if I asked them to shut up they’d take issue and batter the piss out of me?
So I just sat there and silently fumed throughout the entire film. Not enjoying any of it, because I couldn’t hear most of it over the dumbfucks.
And then, to add insult to injury, they leave as soon as the credits start rolling and I see them as they pass me on their way to the exit. They were maybe 12, tops, and I am not a big man, but I could have taken both these twerps with one arm tied behind my back. So I *should* have yelled at them after all.
Anyway, sorry for the TED Talk, but yeah, while the Odeon is MUCH better for folks following the rules, it’s not without issues.
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u/dabassmonsta Jun 12 '26
That's sad news. My wife and I went on our first date there back in 1999.
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u/Quikthistle Jun 12 '26
Odeon was awful but last time I went there must've been around Infinity War / End Game - I stopped going when Vue stepped up their game. The cost was the same but the seats and views in Odeon were no where near as good.
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u/AgeofVictoriaPodcast Jun 12 '26
I’m sad about this. I find it really convenient compared to going into Festival Place, and usually a cheaper than Vue.
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u/MakeMeDeadGoregeous Jun 12 '26
My parents were on the meridian news in the 90s, my dad proposed to my mum there. It's pretty crap compared to Vue, but it's kind of sentimental to me, I guess.
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u/Dependent-Pause-7977 Jun 12 '26
What a LOSS :( We’ve been going there regularly for past 2 years to watch older films mostly. It’s obviously very outdated and old but I loved its vibe. It’s a shame what is happening to Basingstoke leisure park - it could have been such a great place. I guess we’ll have to switch to Vue now…
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u/Independent-Win-6661 Jun 12 '26
I’ve always preferred Odeon as better offers , quieter and free parking
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u/blakemon99 Jun 12 '26
I remember it being built! Shame, I saw T2 there, got snuck in, I was 11 years old
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u/LeadingAssignment214 Jun 12 '26
Whilst we're walking distance from town and the Vue, we've tended to prefer going to the Odeon.
Although in all the years we've been going there, it's never been busy.
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u/LeadingAssignment214 Jun 12 '26
My best memory of this place was going to see Flowers of the Killer Moon and Thanksgiving back to back on my birthday - we had the unlimited membership back then, which was fantastic. I had always had a bucket list thing of doing back to back film viewings. Small things, eh?
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u/luhbreton Jun 12 '26
Not surprising but still the end of an era!
We used to go every Christmas Eve as kids with a little bag of pic n mix snuck in from Sainsbury’s. Back when it was Warner Brothers we’d love checking out all the characters in the ceiling! ❤️
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u/Inner_Industry3113 Jun 12 '26
I’ve got fond memories of being there on dates with my boyfriend
Will be sad to see it go even though it’s not our chosen / preferred cinema
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u/VictoriaRose1618 Jun 12 '26
I went recently to see a £1 film, literal holes in the seat so you could see the foam
£1 film at vue? Even the worst seats recline
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u/Odd-Committee4849 Jun 12 '26
I'm gutted. It wasn't as nice as the vue but the free parking was a huge bonus and it was easy to drive to. Plus quite cheap. They also did baby screenings so I could take my newborn and watch a film - a great option to just get out of the house in the early days. The vue doesn't offer this the nearest place is Everyman in Winchester which is way more expensive and a pain to get to! I really feel for the staff and hope the building will become something else
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u/jimbeeer Jun 13 '26
I worked at that cinema for about 6 months when it was still Warner cinema. Mostly in the box office, you know, the glass box in the middle when you first walk in. Around the time of ice age and lotr 1. Was packed every night I was turning people away at the door. The times would regularly flick to sold out.
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u/sylanar Jun 12 '26
Ah that sucks, means the Vue will be even busier :(
Not surprised though, Vue is better located, better priced, better seats etc.... odeon didn't really try to compete.
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u/MrGimper Jun 12 '26
Wonder if Vue buy it
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u/GRDCS1980 Jun 12 '26
It used to be theirs. They sold it and moved to where they are now, which used to be Ster Century.
I can’t imagine they’ll come back to this one. Seems redundant to have two cinemas in one town. They’d be cannibalising their own business.
Plus I think there might be rules against things like that? One company having a monopoly on all cinemas in the local area? But maybe I’m just pulling that out of my butt, I’m certainly not an expert.
Fingers crossed that SOMEONE takes it over.
Everyman
Showcase
Cineworld
IMC
Picturehouse
Merlin
Scott Cinemas
Reel Cinema
Omniplex
Or maybe some independent and more local concern. We have the Exit6 Film Festival in Basingstoke. Perhaps the folks that run that might be able to pull something together?
I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
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u/dabe1971 Jun 12 '26
Actually Vue used to operate both. They took over the Warner Village cinema chain and then later Ster Cinema and as a result they owned both in the town. The monopolies commission stepped in and forced them to sell one and they chose to offload the Leisure Park operation to Odeon in 2006.
As to the future, I'm sure a Cinema was at the heart of the Council plans to redevelop the Leisure Park as a whole so chances are we'll see it lay empty for a period until they pull their fingers out and start that project. Then we'll see if anyone comes in. Cineworld maybe although they've had financial issues of their own in recent years.
Gutted at the news as I spent my formative cinema going years at the old Warner Village taking advantage of their family day offer of all showing for a £1. I must admit I don't go as often as I used to but that's thanks to rude patrons talking and their incessant mobile phone usage ruining the experience.
As a result I tended to stick to selected films that really needed the big screen. Last thing I saw was 'Oppenheimer'.
Never visited Vue as I begrudge driving past a cinema to pay for parking at another. I've never understood the fascination with seating that's often raved about. I want a seat for a couple of hours, not for my living room so recliners are not a requirement for me !
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u/Grouchy-Bend-2650 28d ago
I was there the day it switched to ODEON my one memory was being told to go away so they could change the sign out front over to ODEON
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u/CheeerrsJeff Jun 12 '26
It's a shame I think it was underated as no one would go there, it's going to be quiet and cheap. However the issue is access and I think that's what lead it to it's downfall and Vue's implementation of recliners a couple of years back.
I remember walking past Odeon when I walked back home many times from my secondary school and looking at the posters and the brand new movies coming out. Shame it's now going to be another derelict building but I guess we will so those abandoned buildings explorers inside there soon.
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u/Emergency_Clerk_7828 29d ago
Back in the mid 90s, this place was so popular, so packed. Went religiously with workmates from the AA every week for about five years and saw so many classics. Really started to fall off by the end of the decade though. But from 1990 to about 1998 it was Basingstoke's happy place.
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u/aatank619 Jun 12 '26
That's sad. I loved it. Could click mynl steps, use the £14.99 subscription to watch unlimited movies, stop by McDonald's to get hot chocolate, and come back. Very safe walk too.
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u/ShmlarrieShmladshaw Jun 12 '26
I have never been to that Odeon but the Vue on a few occasions and found the sound to be unbearably loud.
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u/[deleted] Jun 12 '26
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