SIR Sean Connery yesterday expressed delight that the future of a landmark Edinburgh cinema had been safeguarded for up to a year.
He said the city would be ''poorer'' if the Odeon Cinema in Clerk Street was lost. Four years ago he selected the cinema as the venue for the premiere of his film Entrapment.
It was due to close this month, but last week Odeon announced that it was to lease the Clerk Street premises and its cinema in Renfield Street, Glasgow, back from the new owners, Duddingston House Properties, to use as cinemas for up to a year.
Sir Sean said: ''I was delighted to hear that the closure of the Odeon has been put on hold. It's a fantastic film centre, full of character, with fond memories for me. The Odeon is exactly the kind of facility that Edinburgh should be building up, not shutting down.
''We brought the premiere of Entrapment to the Odeon in 1999 because of what it has to offer - that would all be lost, and Edinburgh would be the poorer if it closed.''
Elsewhere in Edinburgh, Duddingston House Properties has plans to open a jazz club
in association with Jools Holland, fuelling fears that the Odeon may be turned into a nightclub.
A spokesman said that they were ''working up'' proposals, adding: ''It takes time to evolve plans and we are preparing for preliminary discussions with the appropriate authorities.''
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