Odeon cinema in Peterborough's Queensgate Shopping Centre could open before Christmas

Peterborough’s new £60 million cinema in the Queensgate Shopping Centre could open before Christmas, it is understood.

Operator Odeon Cinemas Group is said to have just recently signed an agreement on the 10 screen cinema that sits on the roof of the shopping centre.

It is believed that Odeon is keen to get the cinema fitted out and open to the public ahead of Christmas this year.

The move comes a month after a building control application was submitted to Peterborough City Council to refurbish the Odeon Cinema at the Queensgate Shopping Centre.

The request was accepted by the council shortly afterwards.

A pre-Christmas opening for the cinema would be a major boost for the Queensgate Shopping Centre and would almost coincide with the arrival of the major retail group Frasers.

Frasers is expected to occupy the space across four storeys vacated by department store chain John Lewis, which closed in April 2021 and is likely to move into the Queensgate next year.

The cinema is part of a 77,000 square feet extension of the Queensgate that was first proposed in 2015. It has been built as a potential 10 or 11 screen IMAX venue.

It will be second time lucky for Odeon, which was the original operator selected by Queensgate in August 2015. That arrangement ended two years later after a change of ownership at Odeon created uncertainty about its commitment to Queensgate.

Odeon Cinemas Group has been approached for a comment.