Secret Cinema Wants a Permanent Home — And Greenwich Just Said Yes

The immersive-screening outfit, known for pop-up sets built around a single film, is planning its first long-term venue

By Dexter "Box-Office" Reel

Secret Cinema has spent more than a decade building elaborate, immersive sets around single films — turning warehouses into Blade Runner's Los Angeles or Grease's Rydell High for ticket-holders who dress the part and stay in character for the night. Now the company wants to stop building from scratch each time.

According to the BBC, Secret Cinema is seeking to construct its first permanent venue, a 1,500-seat space on London's Greenwich Peninsula, after planning permission for the site was granted last month.

The shift matters for the business model as much as the audience experience. Secret Cinema's pop-up productions have always carried heavy upfront costs — building and then dismantling entire fictional worlds for a limited run. A fixed venue would let the company reuse infrastructure across productions, potentially extending runs and cutting the overhead that comes with starting over each time in a different warehouse or field.

The BBC's item is brief and doesn't specify an opening date, budget, or which title might christen the new space — details worth watching for as the project moves from planning approval toward construction. But the direction is clear: London's most theatrical film screenings may be about to get a permanent address.

— Compiled from reporting by the BBC.

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