Cinema is coming back to the heart of the Odeon! Storyhouse’s new boutique 100-seat cinema will screen a range of classic, independent and blockbuster films, and the opening film programme has been unveiled.

Featured in the May – June line-up is: some of the latest blockbuster releases, National Theatre and Royal Opera House Live broadcasts, world cinema, Saturday morning family screenings and big-screen classics plus a series of movies programmed for the Women of the World, Chester festival.

Main features

The first ever screening in the brand-new  cinema on Friday 12 May is the much-anticipated wartime drama Their Finest, which features an all-star cast including Bill Nighy and Gemma Arterton. Other main release includes the latest in the Alien franchise; Alien: Covenant, starring Michael Fassbender, comedy-action Mindhorn – from the writers of The Mighty Boosh.

Epic action adventure Wonder Woman, political thriller starring Jessica Chastain Miss Sloane, and, based on the best-selling books, Diary of a Wimpy Kid starring Chloe Moretz, My Cousin Rachel starring Rachel Weisz, Julian Barnes’ A Sense of an Ending, and The Secret Scripture based on The Man Booker-shortlisted book.

World cinema

International cinema will also be coming to Chester; during May and June cinema-goers can see Kristen Stewart in acclaimed ghost story Personal Shopper and the Oscar-winning foreign language film The Salesman.

Family Saturdays

Saturday mornings in Storyhouse will be a place for families to watch a movie together. Every Saturday at 9.30am there will be a family film screened – the first line-up includes BFG, Lego Batman and anime classic When Marnie was There. Accompanying these screenings will be film-themed free arts and crafts in the library.

Event cinema

Storyhouse will be bringing the best of British theatre to Chester by screening National Theatre productions. The first in the bill includes The National Theatre’s heralded show Peter Pan, the Royal Opera House’s Otello and the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Salome. Plus Olivier award-winning Yerma – Billie Piper stars in the Young Vic’s sell-out production of Lorca’s ‘shattering’ masterpiece, as well as Angels in America – The National Theatre’s new production of Tony Kushner’s seminal American classic, with an all-star cast including Andrew Garfield, Denise Gough and Nathan Lane, directed by Oliver-award winner Marianne Elliot.

Classic films

As well as blockbusters, independent, world and family films, bring the classics will return to the original Odeon with a series of reissues. Screenings of Woody Allen’s Manhattan and Jack Nicholson’s break-through movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest are first on the bill.

WOW film season

The weekend of May 19 – 20 is the WOW Chester festival – 2 days of events, workshops, panel discussions and networking opportunities, plus a series of films in the cinema. The line-up includes Certain Woman, Letters from Baghdad, The Fits and Viceroy’s House.

The Storyhouse cinema will have relaxed screenings and autism and baby and toddler friendly screenings.

Tickets to see a film cost £8.50 during the day and £9.50 in the evening. Under 15s £6.50 / £7.50. Saturday morning and toddler friendly screenings are £4 for all tickets.

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