Theatre showing first film after cinema closure

The Weymouth Pavilion is stepping in after the closure of the Cineworld on Bond Street in December

A town's theatre will screen its first film later this week after stepping in to fill a void left by the closure of a Cineworld complex.

Weymouth Pavilion will show Dirty Dancing on Friday 21 February on its newly-installed 11m (36ft) screen in the theatre's auditorium.

The theatre said ticket sales had been strong, with capacity in its auditorium reaching just under 400 seats.

The town's only cinema, the Cineworld on New Bond Street, closed its doors on 30 December as part of the firm's national restructuring.

1987's Dirty Dancing will be the first film shown at the Weymouth Pavilion on Friday

Phil Say, director of Weymouth Pavilion, said several trial screenings at the theatre had been successful.

"It was lots of hard work getting a huge projector into position - a lot of sweat and tears getting it up there.

"[And] we have a surround sound system to make it properly enhanced and an experience... we're ready to go for Friday night."

Mr Say added that tickets began selling "straight away" after the theatre announced the first film would be from the 1980s.

"We're up over 100 tickets for the first screening," he said. He added capacity in the auditorium would be slightly less than 400 to ensure everyone had "a great view".

The theatre said previously said the loss of the cinema that had been open for 25 years had left a "void in Weymouth" and hoped it could bring back the cinema experience "the community are missing".

Cineworld's closure of its cinema at Tower Retail Park in Poole means Weymouth's nearest Cineworld complex is 30 miles (48km) away in Yeovil.