Watch the amazing story of Bristol’s biggest screen on the small screen

It’s certainly a great story: a state-the-art cinema in the heart of one of the nation’s most film-loving cities that was abandoned for more than a decade until a bunch of cinephiles reclaimed it. The Bristol IMAX cinema, situated in the aquarium, was mothballed following a string of flops until it was brought back to life by a group of enthusiasts. This extraordinary story is told in a new documentary entitled The Big Picture.

Back in 1994, IMAX was all the rage and there were two rival plans to build a dedicated cinema in Bristol.

Six years later, on April 20 2000, the new cinema threw open its doors to the public. Now part of what was known as the Wildscreen@Bristol project, this was the third IMAX cinema to open in the UK. It wasn’t the biggest, but the huge 68x48ft screen was certainly large enough. The opening programme comprised a trio of documentaries: Everest, Blue Planet and The Secret of Life on Earth.

Sadly, this new age proved to be short-lived. The main problem was that although the 40 minute science and nature documentaries dominating the programme looked stunning on the enormous screen, that novelty quickly wore off. And these American productions were often strikingly banal, with feeble storylines and awful narration. There followed a brief attempt to diversify into more entertainment-oriented fare, which yielded such dismal offerings as Haunted Castle 3D. Hopes were raised when Disney embraced IMAX technology with the format’s first full-length feature, Fantasia 2000, which proved a huge success on release back in 1999.

Alas, while some movies worked brilliantly in IMAX format, distributors elected to chuck a lot of digitally remastered crap at the giant screen. A string of flops (Open Season, Poseidon, Ant Bully, etc) hit revenues hard. If punters weren’t flocking to see these films in multiplexes, they certainly weren’t going to pay a premium price to watch IMAX versions. Only Superman Returns lived up to commercial expectations, though some punters felt a little conned to find that the promised 3D element comprised just a handful of scenes running for around 20 minutes.

Financial difficulties were cited when it was announced that the Bristol IMAX and accompanying Wildwalk exhibition were to close in April 2007, with the loss of 45 jobs, in order to save the more popular Explore attraction. A petition was launched to save the IMAX, which enjoyed 141,000 admissions in its last financial year, but this was to no avail. Wildwalk then became the Bristol Aquarium, and the cinema continued to screen films as part of that attraction for a few more years.

Subsequently, blockbusters like Blade Runner 2049, Skyfall, Mad Max: Fury Road, Dunkirk and Tenet all made excellent use of the format. But they came too late for the Bristol IMAX.

The cinema then languished forgotten by all but a number of enthusiasts for more than ten years. “I’d lived in Bristol for nearly a decade before I even heard there was an IMAX here,” says award-winning filmmaker Arthur Cauty, director of The Big Picture. “I knew the building — a big cylindrical red-brick structure by the harbourside — but as it was right next to the aquarium, I had just assumed it was a giant fish tank. That assumption, I later found out, was surprisingly common!

“It had been over 12 years since a film was shown there, and for many people, it had simply vanished from memory. That act of cultural forgetting — and what it meant for a city that otherwise seems to champion cinema — fascinated me. To see it reopen — not as a profit-driven venture, but as a space reclaimed by the people — felt quietly revolutionary.

​“At a time when cinemas across the country are struggling to survive, and where cultural spaces are increasingly vulnerable to commercial interests, The Big Picture flips the narrative. This is a story about underdogs beating the odds — a reminder that sometimes, the little guy gets to win. That’s the kind of story I want to tell.”

The Big Picture can now be seen on a variety of platforms, including Apple TV, Amazon and Rakuten.