‘Unbelievable’ bookings for Bond film at Melton cinema

The Regal is showing No Time To Die for three weeks and demand for tickets has gone through the roof at a timely moment as the King Street picture house recovers from the challenges of being closed for long periods during the coronavirus pandemic.

Social distancing measures remain in place, with seats and dividers between patrons, to support the many locals who remain vigilant against the threat of the virus.

Manager, Jacob Mundin, told the Melton Times: “We have been quiet because of Covid and because there hasn’t been an actual blockbuster since we reopened.

“But we started taking bookings for Bond about 10 days ago and we took more bookings in that first couple of days than the whole time since we’ve been open again.

“We are all very excited to be able to finally show the movie.

“We are losing 35 per cent of our capacity due to the social distancing but we can operate at that level and we plan to continue with these measures for the forseeable future.”

With the nation seemingly desperate to see the new Bond movie, which had its release date changed several times during the pandemic, The Regal is trying an innovative approach to luring movie fans away from the large multiplexes in neighbouring cities.

Jacob explained: “We are trying to do lots of different little things so we have a breakfast on the Saturday morning where there will be pastries and croissants and things, we are doing a quiz night on one of them and we’ve got afternoon teas and pizza nights.

“It’s quite a long film, at two hours and 43 minutes, so we are offering four shows where there is an intermission so people can go to the toilet or get an ice cream or just stretch their legs.”

It looks like a boom period ahead for the town’s striking Art Deco cinema with a host of big movies being launched in the run-up to Christmas, such as the Ridley Scott film starring Lady Gaga, The House of Gucci; the Spielberg remake of West Side Story; The Last Duel starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck; The Matrix 4, the new Spider-Man film; King Richard; and Mothering Sunday, starring Olivia Colman and Colin Firth.

But for now the focus is on James Bond for the next few weeks with Jacob adding: “We couldn’t be more grateful to the people who bought memberships during the closure period.

“The BFI and government grants then ‘saved our bacon’ and allowed us to keep going.

“It’s time now to ramp it up again and get back to business rather than just ticking over.”

Go online at www.regalcinemamelton.com/ or call 01664 500642 to buy tickets.

NHS workers can still get free tickets at The Regal, which have been bought by other customers to thank them for their support during the pandemic.