Gutted One Direction fans were left staring at a blank screen after a charity concert film was suddenly cancelled. The former band’s ‘This is Us’ film was due to be shown at the Odeon at Great Northern, in Manchester city centre, on Tuesday night (January 14).
But after taking their seats, hopeful fans were informed the film would no longer be showing. It is understood this was due to a ‘technical fault’, thought to have been a ‘sound and projection issue’ which could not be rectified.
Marcus Owramenko snapped the pictures of the auditorium emptying out and ticket holders leaving the venue shortly after the announcement was made, at around 7.55pm.
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He said the room, ‘packed with people, mostly young girls’ were then told refunds would be made available. Odeon has since apologised over the incident.
A technical issue caused the one-off showing to be cancelled at the last minute -Credit:Marcus Owramenko
On Tuesday night, Marcus said: “I have just been to watch the One Direction “This is Us” charity concert film at Odeon Great Northern in Manchester and it has been cancelled at the last minute.
“The screen room was packed with people, most young girls, ready to watch the movie. They were sat ready and waiting with their popcorn, drinks and snacks.
“But about 10 minutes after the film was about to start at 7:45pm, an assistant made the announcement that the event would be cancelled. Odeon said that full refunds and compensation would be available not only for the tickets but for the snacks and drinks as well.”
One Direction re-released their 2013 documentary This Is Us at cinemas for one day on Tuesday (January 14) in honour of their late band member Liam Payne.
Odeon said 100 per cent of the profits from tickets for the film, which was screening throughout the UK, would be donated to mental health awareness charities including MIND, SAMH and AWARE NI.
An Odeon spokesperson said: “Unfortunately, despite our team’s best efforts, we were unable to screen the film as planned due to a technical fault. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused to all guests.”