Waterstone's to open cinema in Piccadilly branch

12.07.10 | Graeme Neill in The Bookseller

Waterstone's will open a cinema in its Piccadilly branch in central London next year after it signed an agreement with Curzon Artificial Eye.

The retailer refused to comment about where the cinema would be, how many screens it would have or whether it would reduce the number of books instore. But spokesperson said: "We have got planning permission for Piccadilly and it's in the pipeline for 2011."

Curzon Artifical Eye has five cinemas across London, and operates the cinema at the HMV branch in Wimbledon. In a note posted online, Ross Fitzsimons, a director of Curzon Artifical Eye, said other cinemas were being planned for other Waterstone's branches.

He said: "This will be the first Curzon at Waterstone’s cinema . . . with other HMV and Waterstone’s sites now being planned. HMV and CAE recently announced their intention to develop and open up to twenty more of these cinemas with CAE over the next four to five years. The partnership with HMV gives CAE potential access as that rollout continues to almost seven million registered customers."

The Waterstone's spokesperson refused to comment on whether additional cinemas would be added to its branches.


Footnote:
Any NZ booksellers interested in this idea?