Hot off the presses from The Scotsman is the news that the new Harry Potter film Goblet of Fire will premiere at J.K. Rowling‘s (and my) local cinema, and The Royal Bank of Scotland are paying for the Dominion cinema to be transformed into Hogwarts for a private event for their clients and some employees families…except they won’t be clearing up afterwards, they’re going to leave the sets in place for the public shows the following day.
It is Edinburgh’s only family-run cinema and JK Rowling’s local picture-house. The Dominion, in Morningside, just down the road from the author’s Merchiston home, has played host to a whole host of celebrities and gala premieres since it opened in 1938…
…A theatre-style set is to be built in the cinema’s 350-capacity main auditorium for the event, organised by the Royal Bank of Scotland for a host of clients and their families. The Dominion also just happens to be on the doorstep of RBS chief executive Fred Goodwin.
Giant spiders and rats, burning torches, spooky music, atmospheric lights and overhead projections of Quidditch matches will all be used to get the audience in the mood for a screening of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Guests will also be entertained by magicians, a string of costume-clad characters including Hagrid and Dumbledore, and demonstrations featuring live owls and falcons.
And the good news for fans attending the cinema after the early-morning event is held on Saturday, November 19 – the day after the film’s nationwide opening – is that the Hogwarts-style surroundings will be kept in place for other screenings of the eagerly-awaited movie that day…
…The Dominion, which has been graced by stars including Billy Connolly, Sir Sean Connery and Steve Martin over the years, is the second oldest surviving picture house in Edinburgh after the King’s, now the Cameo, which started operating in 1914. It is also the only independently-run cinema in the Capital and one of just a handful left in Scotland.
Wow! Apologies for the length of the quote, but the scale of the event needed the explanation I think. It’s going to be huge. Perhaps not for those of you used to grand opening nights, but for the local residents it’s huge. I’m not just talking Rowling and Goodwin, I’m talking about the everyday Morningside residents. One of them is me!
It sounds stunning, the scale of the event and the fact that they are graciously leaving everything in place for the public showings, how great will that be? The Dominion is a superb family cinema and is a superb place to go catch a movie (you can have leather sofas or lazy boys to watch a movie in!)…This is a great boost for them and I really hope that we can get some more info on it…I’ll get back to you.
