The owner of Ballarat's now-only operating cinema says the city is capable of sustaining two well-run cinemas, and the industry is still very much alive and strong despite the shock closure of the iconic Regent Cinemas.
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Showbiz Cinemas owner and director Chris Jones said the Regent's closure is "terribly sad", and hopes the almost 100-year-old cinema can reopen.
"It's really, really sad The Regent has closed," Mr Jones said.
"From a local perspective, I've always maintained that as Victoria's third biggest city with a population of 120,000 (people), we can absolutely sustain two, well-run, ... cinema businesses in this town. I genuinely, and really hope there is some way forward for The Regent to be able to reopen because our city deserves two well-run cinema operations."
He said he does not believe the rise of streaming services is having a major impact on box-office sales around the country.
"It just comes down to film product ... even if you look now at current films, the last two weeks have been the busiest weeks from an industry perspective, virtually for all of 2024," he said.
"Sure, there's been a number of circumstances in recent years that have reduced box office sales including ... the pandemic, the recent writers and actors strike last year - which has sort of resulted in a bit of a lag of film product being released.
I genuinely, and really hope there is some way forward for The Regent to be able to reopen because our city deserves two well-ran cinema operations.
- Showbiz Cinemas owner and director Chris Jones
A number of Regent Cinemas customers have been left in limbo with vouchers and other bookings and Mr Jones said Showbiz has had a number of calls for group bookings and parties after news of the closure spread.
Mr Jones said more screenings will be put on at the Showbiz Cinemas, located at Delacombe Town Centre, in the coming weeks ahead of the school holidays.
"We're certainly endeavouring to do our best to help out all of those bookings, as much as possible," Mr Jones said.
But he said they wouldn't be able to honour existing Regent movie tickets.
Ballarat mum Bridget Folbigg was among those who was able to rebook at Showbiz, after she received an email from The Regent cancelling her daughter's birthday party scheduled for this weekend.
Mr Jones said this time of year is quite busy, with school holidays about to begin.
"The last two weeks have been exceptionally busy," Mr Jones said.
"We've just had a bit of a look at our programming and facilitated - where we can - extra sessions over the next couple of weeks."
He said Inside Out 2, Despicable Me 4 and Garfield are the biggest hits heading into the holidays.
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