Ordinary Gweilo

Last week I mentioned that the drive-in cinema in Kowloon appeared to have closed down.  Today comes confirmation of this in the SCMP (Drive-in cinema shuts after just 8 months – subscription required):

The curtain has fallen on Hong Kong’s first and only drive-in cinema just eight months after it opened.

Movie fans might have voted with their wheels because they were not used to watching films in a car, a viewing experience common in North America and Australia before the age of multiplexes.

To mark the finale, a charity screening party organised by the Children’s Institute of Hong Kong to raise funds for autistic youngsters will be staged at Austin Road West tomorrow night.

The Drive-In, nestled in the concrete jungle next to Jordan’s skyscrapers, opened in January on the 200,000 sq ft site. In front of its screen was space for 90 cars.

People without cars had the option of sitting in a few vintage vehicles or comfortable seats. Tickets cost HK$100 for a car space and one person, HK$50 for a second person and HK$40 for more people.

Partners behind the venture included entertainment lawyer John McLellan and Winnie Tsang, managing director of film distributor Golden Scene.

But the cinema got off to a slow start. Only about 30 people in 16 cars attended the opening night and just six tickets were sold over the internet for the late-night second screening.  Business had reportedly been poor since.

Recently, fans calling to buy tickets were greeted with a taped message: “Sorry, the drive-in theatre has now closed down. Thank you for your support in the past.”

So they were willing to admit on their phone line that the cinema was closed, even if the adverts in the SCMP claimed that it was being used for a private function.