THE lights will go down and the reels will roll at the North-East's newest cinema later this week.
Almost 20 years after the first multiplex development opened in the region at the MetroCentre, Sunderland sees its first multi-screen cinema development open at the former Theatre Royal site.
The 12-screen Cineworld will open in Lambton Street on Friday, following a civic launch on Thursday.
Sunderland AFC manager Mick McCarthy will perform the ceremonial cutting of the film alongside civic leaders and some of the club's stars.
The 12 auditoriums range in size from 300 to 100 seats, with four VIP boxes, each with their own sound systems, where customers can get waiter service. The complex also includes a bar, plus several video arcade games, and refreshment stalls.
It ends a barren period of more than five years for film buffs in Sunderland, since the closure of the former ABC cinema in Holmeside.
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