BREAKING: Mumbais iconic Eros Cinema to reopen as an IMAX screen; city to get one more IMAX theatre at Jio World Convention Centre

In April 2023, rumours had spread that Eros Cinema, the iconic single-screen cinema hall located in Mumbai’s Churchgate area, will be demolished. It led to a lot of brouhaha as it was one of the most beloved theatres for Mumbaikars. Also, the Art Deco structure, which was established in 1938, is a landmark building of the city. The matter became so huge that Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had to clarify that the heritage building is not being pulled down.

Bollywood Hungama has now learnt that Eros Cinema will soon be reopened in a new avatar. A source told Bollywood Hungama, “Eros will open as an IMAX with laser screen. Apart from the IMAX screen, it’ll have a few small normal screens as well. Most of the work is complete and it should open soon, hopefully, this year, provided it gets all the permissions from the government authorities.”

The source also shared, “Initially, Eros cinema was supposed to be an Inox multiplex but after the merger, it’ll be a PVR-Inox property.”

Eros Cinema shut down in 2017 due to poor ticket sales and competition from multiplexes. In 2018, there were reports that it’ll reopen as a 300-seater cinema hall on the first floor in the place of the balcony and a department store on the ground floor. The original Eros cinema had a capacity of 1204 seats. A portion of the popular song ‘Tum Jo Aaye Zindagi Mein’, featuring Ajay Devgn and Kangana Ranaut, from Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai (2010) was shot in Eros cinema.

Eros Cinema will be the first IMAX screen to open in South Mumbai. The nearest IMAX for town residents in Mumbai was at PVR Lower Parel.

Interestingly, one more IMAX screen is set to open this year, which will also be owned by PVR Inox. The source said, “It’ll be a 6-screen theatre, one of which will be an IMAX auditorium. It’s located at the Jio World Convention Centre, where the newest attraction of the city, Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, is also situated. Like Eros, it is also expected to open this year.”

With these two cinemas, the number of IMAX theatres in Mumbai will increase to 7. Thus, the city will have the maximum number of IMAX theatres in the country. Delhi and Bengaluru come next as each of them has 6 IMAX screens. Interestingly, Mumbai would have had 8 IMAX screens if the one at Wadala, run by Carnival Cinemas, had not shut down earlier in 2023.

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