The 26-year-old Chinachem Golden Plaza Cinema in Tsim Sha Tsui East - a favourite haunt of late Chinachem chief Nina Wang Kung Yu-sum - closed yesterday to make way for shops.
With the closure came another twist in the saga surrounding the conglomerate. The head of its entertainment division said the decision was blowback from top management after he went to police with allegations about Chinachem.
The cinema, which pioneered 1am and 3am screenings in Hong Kong, had lost several million dollars over the past four years, Chinachem Group chief operating officer David Parker said.
"The area has changed and there are more cinemas posing competition," Parker said. Renting the space - at 77 Mody Road - to retailers would be more profitable, he said.
But group entertainment head Ringo Wong Lai-chuen - formerly Wang's assistant - said the cinema's books had shown a profit. The closure was reprisal from top management after he took allegations of perversions of justice by Chinachem officers to police, he said.
"This is because we and some other employees in the entertainment department reported illegalities to authorities," he said.