Alton’s Palace Cinema will be closed for one week from Monday, August 22, blaming a “lack of new films”.

In a notice posted in the cinema window, it is stated the Palace is “currently showing Minions, which is six weeks old, and there are no new popular films due to be released”.

It adds: “You may wish to check out what the larger cinemas are screening – they too are showing older films.”

The cinema website www.palacecinema.co.uk also stated its screenings for the week starting tomorrow (Friday) are “to be updated”, as of Thursday.

According to nationwide cinema giant Cineworld, no new blockbusters are set to be released until September, with just six releases planned before the end of 2022:

Alton cinema-goers have suggested online that the Palace take a more ‘arthouse’ approach to its scheduling, and feature seasons of older films alongside new blockbusters.