FILM fans have flocked to give their support to the planned reopening of the Rex Cinema in Wilmslow.

More than one thousand memberships have already been taken out since Thursday’s announcement that the cinema would be reopening after an absence of 23 years.

The Mundin family are hoping to open the cinema once again as soon as possible to cater for the huge demand from local people.

The cinema will be run by Louis and Sophie Mundin, and will feature two screens, the main screen seating up to 150 people and the second between 60 and 70 seats.

The main screen will be created with the redevelopment of the upper circle, and the smaller screen will be created in the old ballroom.

The Mundin family have renovated cinemas in Belper, Melton Mowbray and the Savoy Cinema in Heaton Moor, which is run by Sophie and husband Louis.

They are looking to create a luxury boutique cinema at the Rex, with the emphasis on comfort, cosiness and friendliness, alongside top of the range screens, sound and projection.

As well as catering for film fans they believe that reopening the much-loved Rex will provide a major boost for businesses in the town as people visit restaurants and bars as part of a night out at the cinema.

Key to the Mundin family’s desire to take on the challenge of reopening the Rex was the support for the project from the townspeople.

“We had come and had a look at the Rex about 18 months ago when we heard that Multiyork would be closing,” said Sophie.

“A couple of months after that we came across the Rex Revival group, and it make us really excited because we could see straight away the level of community interest and how many people wanted the cinema to be saved.

“This was brilliant for us because everyone was as excited about reopening the cinema as we were.”

Louis said the cinema was in a “fantastic location, a great area and a beautiful town”, but there was always that nagging doubt about whether people would support it.

“To see the huge number of comments and posts from people saying how much they love the Rex and want it back was great reassurance for us,” he said.

“It’s a fantastic business to be in because it’s making people so happy, and from the feedback we’ve had so far people are so excited with what’s going on.”

Louis was delighted at the number of memberships taken out already, which he said would “go into making the building even better than we could ever have hoped for”.

Plans are in place for a lift to be installed, and there will be an upper foyer featuring sofas where film goers can enjoy home-made cake and a coffee before the film or have a drink.

Louis and Sophie are looking to recruit up to 20 staff to help them run the Rex.

“We love every aspect of running a cinema – we love the community feel, we know everybody and where they like to sit, and like catching up with them,” said Sophie.

“We choose the films, which is something I really enjoy, and in our spare time we love watching films.

“We have social media accounts live, and the response has been overwhelming.

“People are saying how great it is that the Rex is reopening, which is really nice for us, and everyone wants to know what’s going on.”

They want to hear people’s ideas for the cinema and their memories of the Rex, and people can visit the facebook page The Rex Cinema Wilmslow or the website rexcinemawilmslow.com

A weekly or fortnightly blog is also planned to enable people to find out the latest about the cinema and the reopening.