Fulham Road Picturehouse
Fulham Road and Drayton Gardens,
London,
SW10 6SD
Fulham Road and Drayton Gardens,
London,
SW10 6SD
4 people
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Ground floor: Starbucks to become a restaurant/cafe. Historical display in foyer. New rubber floor in foyer.
First floor: circle bar to become private hire/dancing. First floor foyer to become a bar and lounge with original parquet flooring restored.
Looks like screens will be re-stepped, reducing (but not eliminating) the asymmetrical nature of screens 1 and 2.
Screen 1: 5330x9660, 1.81 Screen 2: 5082x9200, 1.18 Screen 3: 2470x5730, 2.34, 141 seats Screen 4: 3100x7250, 2.34, 176 seats Screen 5: 3100x7250, 2.34, 174 seats Screen 6: Details not shown on planning application
They really ought to remove the division of the circle (which looked ‘cock -eyed’ afterwards) to restore full width and symmetry. EMI, the parent company of ABC, were just being greedy when they did this years ago and they ought to have considered this theatre’s location within an affluent area of the capital rather than some dead end district.
If the original capacity of almost 800 is too large (as it obviously will be these days) then they can always re-step it and have a capacity of around 400 but the two cinemas adjacent to one another need scrapping….
Just announced – cinema will be refurbed and become a Picturehouse. Fantastic news as refurb feels overdue, and with Everyman taking the Kings Road site it made sense really:
We wanted to share some news with you, Cineworld Fulham Road will be going through a refurbishment over the next couple of months and transitioning into a Picturehouse Cinema at the end of the year. The cinema will remain in operation as a Cineworld and will continue showing all the latest blockbusters until October before reopening as Picturehouse Fulham Road.
Visited this cinema on 12 June and now concerned for its future. Cineworld are currently refurbishing all of their older cinemas, and this has ominously been apparently left off the list. Both the exterior and interiors have a deeply outdated feel. I visited Screen 1 for the first time in years, and the experience was awful : tired, worn seats, appalling sound from old behind-screen speakers and atrocious projection of the main feature – a dull anamorphic image projected onto the unmasked centre of a standard 16:9 ratio screen. Given the potential for massive property profits to be gained from a residential redevelopment of this site, I think the end is nigh. A real pity from many points of view.
My first visit here today since the Starbucks replaced the downstairs bar. Furniture from the downstairs bar has been moved to the upper foyer as well as the Circle Bar (which seems to be used as an event space rather than as a bar) however both concessions kiosks now offer alcohol, and you can take your drink into the screens.
This cinema is getting a Starbucks – no idea whether this will replace or be in addition to the existing bar.
Exterior photos from January 2009.
I worked in the box office here 1985-91. There were several 70mm presentations in screen 1 during that time. They were : Revolution, Little Shop of Horrors, The Untouchables, The Witches of Eastwick, Cry Freedom, Ibdiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Batman. The last 70mm was Far abd Away in ‘92. Does anybody know what the first one was? As of 1990 the #1 box office champion was “Dangerous Liaisons” with a gross of £243,000. The total gross in 1989 was £2,825,000; six times the 1985 figure during a flourishing period for the cinema. It was the first ABC/Cannon to have computerised ticketting in '87.
Have load 4 pictures hope you enjoy
A set of vintage photographs of the Forum/ABC Fulham Road:
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Original auditorium view:
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In January 1958, the former tea room/cafe in the Forum Theatre was converted into a ladies hairdressing salon, named Elstree Studio Hair Stylists:
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In my twenty – thirty years in London this is one of those with the nearby Cineworld Chelsea that has been an ABC, A Cannon, MGM, Virgin, UGC, and now Cineworld…it serves its purpose in the neighborhood efficiently…and am pleasantly surprised it has survived even if it looks a bit tired at the heels…Have seen White Palace, Godfather III, Big Lebowski, Best in Show, Man in the Moon, Sixth Sense, Deep Blue Sea, Buena Vista Social Club, State and Main, O Brother How Art Thou, House of Sand and Fog, Other People’s Money, Dr T and the Women here over the years…probably one or two more
OK, many thanks Ken.
All the times I’ve seen movies here in the last 25 years I had no idea of that extension.
Ian; The squash court was built on the car park at the rear of the building, on its right hand side.
Where in the above photo is the squash court conversion screens.
Here are a some 2006 photos of the Fulham.