BLACK tie suits and glamorous dresses as far as the eye could see dominated a Chester cinema last night (Thursday, October 30) as the new James Bond film received its regional premiere in the city.
Cineworld on the Greyhound Retail Park hosted a VIP charity event to mark the opening of Quantum of Solace, the second 007 film to star Chester-born actor Daniel Craig.
The star’s father Tim Craig and his wife Kirsty were among the guests of honour who also included former Brookside actor Vince Earl and representatives from Chester City Council and Visit Chester & Cheshire.
The event was held to raise funds for the RNLI, a charity adopted by Daniel Craig who sent a message of support to the Chester event, pointing out the work done by this life-saving organisation.
Cineworld decided to keep the rest of the cinema open to the public who were filing into some of the other offerings such as High School Musical 3 and Ghost Town as the VIP guests arrived for the Bond premiere.
Small groups of hopeful celebrity spotters gathered outside the venue and were joined by placard-waving protesters from the group Extreme Fliers demanding an end to what they call “the boring, serious and corporate James Bond”, hoping to persuade the series producers to bring back the gizmo-laden cars and funny one-liners of past Bond films.
A champagne reception was held in the upstairs bar area of Cineworld before everyone filed into Screen 6 for the unveiling of the new film which also stars Ukranian actress and model Olga Kurylenko and rising British star Gemma Arterton.
After the screening, all the guests were invited to make their way into the city centre for an after-show reception at Cruise nightclub in St John Street.
