The future of Vue cinema in Reading explained

Vue Cinema at The Oracle Riverside has been in the town for 24 years, with countless generations of people going to watch the latest movie releases.

But the cinema is destined to close in the coming years so it can be demolished to make way for a new 14-storey building containing 218 apartments and leisure facilities.

Although a closure for redevelopment is on the cards in several years' time, the cinema remains open to the public.  

The Vue cinema at The Oracle Riverside in Reading. (Image: James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporting Service)

A spokesperson for Vue said: “We are in regular conversations with our landlord and have no current plans to close Vue Reading.

“Instead, we are looking forward to continuing to provide our customers with the best big screen experience to enjoy the great films that are coming in the months ahead: Joker: Folie à Deux, Paddington in Peru and Wicked to name a few.”

The cinema will be re-provided in the new building that The Oracle owners Hammerson want to construct, on the south bank of the River Kennet, which it has called 'Yield Hall Place 2'.

However, plans show that the number of screens provided will go down from 11 to seven. Two large screens would be provided on the ground floor, with five smaller screens being installed at the mezzanine level.

The floorplan for the ground floor for a new tower at The Oracle in Reading containing two large cinema screens. (Image: CallisonRTKL)

There will also be a flexible retail or restaurant unit next to the cinema. The demolition of the Vue building will also result in the loss of five restaurant units, of which two are occupied.

While Miller & Carter and Cote Brasserie remain open, Handmade Burger Co closed in January 2020, and Browns Brasserie and TGI Fridays closed earlier this year.

Redevelopment plans for the cinema building and the former Debenhams have been in the works for some time.

Proposals first emerged in 2022, with the plans officially being submitted in early 2023.

The floorplan for the mezzanine level for a new tower at The Oracle in Reading containing five small cinema screens. (Image: CallisonRTKL)

The project will have to be decided at a Reading Borough Council planning applications committee meeting.

But a verdict on the development is still a way off yet, as redesigns for the plans surfaced in April this year.

In full, Hammerson wants to add 436 apartments to The Oracle Riverside, with new buildings on both sides of the River Kennet creating 218 apartments each.

READ MORE: Changes made to add flats to The Oracle Shopping Centre 

The redesign involved reducing the number of floors from 16 to 14 at Yield Hall Place 2.

At the north bank of the river, Hammerson has applied to build Yield Hall Place 1 at the former Debenhams building, which would be 19 storeys tall and provide flexible retail units and 'co-working' space.

The main change in the redesign lowered the number of apartments from 449 to 436, a reduction of 13 units.

You can view the application for Yield Hall Place 2 by typing reference 221917 into the council's planning portal.

Reference 221916 can be used to see proposals for Yield Hall Place 1.