Warwick Arts Centre’s cinema welcomes the return of 35mm film

At a time when virtually every commercial movie screening in the UK is digital, Warwick Arts Centre is bucking the trend to become the only cinema in the West Midlands to present regular 35mm films screenings alongside their regular 4K programme – beginning with Christopher Nolan’s eagerly awaited The Odyssey (from Friday 17 July 2026).

Since re-opening in 2021, following a major refurbishment, the plush Coventry-based three-screen cinema has been exclusively showing digital screenings – from major Hollywood hits and the very best foreign language films, to event cinema and one-off specials. But behind the scenes, staff and volunteers have been painstakingly restoring an old 35mm film projector, which will make its debut with the latest blockbuster from the lauded director of The Dark Knight Trilogy, Interstellar, Memento, and 2023’s Oscar and BAFTA-winning Oppenheimer.

Nolan’s The Odyssey is an epic adaptation of Homer’s ancient Greek adventure. Starring Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Zendaya and Charlize Theron, it follows Odysseus, the Greek king of Ithaca, during and after the Trojan War, and was shot entirely on celluloid.

“Warwick Arts Centre is the only cinema in the region where you can catch The Odyssey on release the way Nolan has meant it to be seen,” says James McEvoy, Warwick Arts Centre’s Screen Producer. “The director is a longstanding fan of the film format, and these exclusive 35mm screenings are a must-see, not just for any Nolan buff, but any fan of cinema.”

Of the appeal of the physical format, James adds: “Watching a celluloid film screening is a textured, tangible and a unique live event – unlike digital copies of film, a 35mm print carries all the history of every screening, so it’s something of a lightning in a bottle experience you can only see in person.”

In preparing for the return of 35mm screenings, the arts centre’s cinema staff have broadened their knowledge with specialist on and off-site training. Previously mothballed, their projector – a Zenith X 3000H – was bought back into life by University of Warwick engineering graduate (and former arts centre projectionist) Ethan Graham, who dismantled the cinema’s two old out-of-order 35mm projectors to create one fully functioning unit, which is now in perfect working order.

With the projector now firmly back in the arts centre’s armoury, further screenings of other films – both old and new – are currently being lined-up to complement their regular 4K digital programme, with Jurassic Park set for 35mm screening in August as part of the venue’s Spielberg Summer season.

• The 35mm print of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey can be seen at Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, from Friday 17 July 2026. Advance bookings now open. Digital 4K screenings also available. For more information, see: warwickartscentre.co.uk