After 40 years closed, Cine Copan is back in São Paulo! The cinema is on the first floor of one of the city’s most emblematic buildings, and with its reopening, it will bring even more life to the cultural scene in the center, which is reinventing itself every day.
At a time when street cinemas are struggling to stay afloat, the news is a milestone for São Paulo. After all, the reopening doesn’t just mean another movie theater for the capital. It represents a rescue of the city’s cultural heritage, occupying and valuing a historic site that marked the cultural scene in the 20th century.
From its heyday to oblivion: learn about the history of Cine Copan
The Copan cinema opened in 1970, and at the time it was synonymous with luxury and innovation. With an architectural project by Oscar Niemeyer, the cinema had a capacity for 1,200 people, velvet seats and high-quality projection. In its heyday, it was a reference among moviegoers and attracted residents from all over the city in search of entertainment.
Like so many other street cinemas, however, Cine Copan didn’t stand the test of time. With the decay of the city center and the public’s preference for shopping malls, Niemeyer’s iconic cinema closed its doors in 1986.
After a period of emptiness, in the 2000s the venue was replaced by an evangelical church. The change led to the de-characterization of the inside of the cinema, and the iconic sign also ceased to exist.
In 2008, however, the City Hall banned the church due to irregularities in its administration – the church spent years not paying the condominium fees to the Copan administrators, for example. This ushered in a new era of abandonment in the former Cine Copan space.
New owners, new plans! What will be the future of the Copan cinema?
The property is currently in the hands of new owners, who have yet to reveal their identity. The transfer process is still in legal proceedings, but expectations are high: Cine Copan should reopen within two years, after a major renovation that promises to restore the original charm of the place.
In other words: we still don’t have any details about the reopening of Cine Copan, but we already know that it will be iconic! Soon, the center of São Paulo will have another obligatory stop for movie buffs on duty, who will be able to enjoy themselves in a historic environment, full of culture and tradition.
