If you look in the Guinness World Records, you will find that Glasgow, Scotland, is home to the world’s tallest cinema, Cineworld. The theater, 12 stories tall and standing at a height of 62 meters, opened on Sept. 21, 2001, with 18 screens and a capacity of 4,277 people. Cineworld is a Glasgow landmark. 

This year, though, on Sept. 28, the cinema will be closing its doors.

The building owners are a subsidiary of Omniplex, an Irish cinema chain that aims to take over control of the building. It’s the end of an era. To me, the cinema holds many memories. To get into town, I get off at the Buchanan Bus Station, which is right next to the giant building. I remember I went there after my university lectures, to see Avengers: Endgame in the early morning, when I probably should have been studying.

As soon as you see that sign, you recognize the landmark’s importance to the city. Even when the city was going through changes, Cineworld still felt permanent.

This news comes at a difficult time for theaters, both big and small, making me question whether large cinemas have any purpose anymore. Having 18 screens is certainly an impressive feat, but it was likely also Cineworld’s Achilles heel.

Summer 2025 was great for blockbuster movies, with F1, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and Superman, to name a few. But that’s not going to happen every summer; that’s where this Achilles’ heel becomes apparent. If you don’t have a flow of big hits, all these screens turn into empty spaces.

It’s like being stuck between a rock and a hard place: You want to give moviegoers a choice, but ultimately it’s what the studios are putting out that dictates your answers.

Ultimately, whatever does become of the tallest cinema in the world, its legacy will always be in the hearts of its attendees. In an ever-changing city, Cineworld has always been a friendly, reliable place.

Editorial Courtesy of Matthew Allan

Feature Image via BBC