Bristol suffered considerable audience losses with the advent of several multiplex cinemas in Helsinki. From 1998, its audience numbers gradually dropped from 350,000 to less than 100,000 moviegoers per year, prompting the closure of one of Helsinki’s most culturally significant film houses.

The cinema first opened in 1961 with the 4-hour Hollywood spectacle “Ben Hur”, which will also be the last film to be shown at the cinema on Sunday evening.