According to reports, the Odeon cinema in Kettering, Northamptonshire, closed down last year. Major media reports indicate it shut its doors at the start of 2025, specifically on January 28, 2025. It reportedly opened in December 1997 with the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies and served the town for 27 years.
Over its lifetime, the cinema was updated from traditional 35mm film projection to digital systems and later 3D. However, in its final years, attendances reportedly declined and the site was considered no longer viable to operate. There was reportedly local support and petitions to keep the Odeon cinema in Kettering open, but the ownership and specific reasons for the attendance drop remain unclear.
Not long after shutting its doors, the Odeon cinema building in Kettering was reportedly broken into and vandalised, with parts of the interior trashed by youths. Photographs show the closed Odeon cinema in Kettering before bulldozers moved in. Costa and Ben & Jerry's signage are still in place in the lobby of the closed Odeon cinema in Kettering.
The first two letters of an 'ODEON' sign above the ticket booths at the closed cinema in Kettering have fallen down or been removed, leaving it saying just 'EON'. Photos of the lobby show a number of tables still in place, and litter and other items, including a spade, strewn about the area. Images show parts of the ceiling have fallen through or been damaged, with cables left dangling down.
Other pictures show inside one of the screens, with a row of chairs still in place. Orange and white paint has been splashed around the area inside one of the screens, and the projection screen has been torn, revealing the machinery underneath. Other images show what appears to be inside one of the projection booths, with machinery still in place but some damage caused.
The identity of those responsible for the vandalism and whether any arrests have been made is not known. Work to demolish the Odeon cinema site in Kettering to make way for a storage facility is reportedly close to completion. The exact timeline for the demolition and construction remains uncertain, and it is unclear if there are any current plans or efforts to preserve or repurpose the cinema building instead of demolition.
People on Reddit said they were disappointed to see the site had been vandalised. One Reddit user said: 'Kinda sad that people ruin these places, I guess if I was 16 still I probably would think it's 'cool' to destroy the place. ' Another Reddit user said: 'When one of our local theaters closed it wasn't long before scrappers (and) homeless people started to bust the walls open to steal the copper pipes and wires out of the building.
' Another Reddit user wrote: 'I really hate vandals.