Disney sidelines saint's film

The Lion King will show over the Christmas period

A £650,000 council-funded 'feature' film of the life of St Cuthbert is attracting so few visitors that it is being replaced by The Lion King.

Durham City Council commissioned The Sacred Journey to be screened at the ill-fated Gala Theatre.

The council took over the running of the £16m theatre earlier this year after its management company went bust.

But, after disastrous viewing figures for the film, the giant screen at the theatre is to show Disney's The Lion King over Christmas and into the New Year.

The film about St Cuthbert cost £650,000 to make

Council bosses hope the animated epic, with its Oscar-winning soundtrack by Sir Elton John and Sir Tim Rice, will attract more visitors to the under-used cinema, which opened in January and often shows the St Cuthbert film to rows of empty seats.

In September screenings of The Sacred Journey were reduced from six to four a day.

Roger Cornwell, chairman of the City of Durham Trust, said: "Durham City Council seem to be the only ones who actually believed The Sacred Journey would be a goer.

"It has obviously been a flop, and an expensive flop at that."

Disastrous marketing

When The Sacred Journey was launched in March the city council's director of environmental services, John Jennings, predicted at least 100,000 visitors a year would watch the film.

After the council took over the management of the theatre in May from collapsed management firm The Entertainment Team (Durham) Ltd, it blamed the failed company for the poor viewing figures, citing "disastrous" marketing techniques.

Gala Theatre spokesman Ed Tutty said The Sacred Journey would still be shown "at special events", for coach parties and when the cinema had nothing else to show.

The city council has also decided to accelerate plans to show mainstream films because of the demise of Durham's only cinema, The Robins in North Road.

A Durham City Council spokeswoman said: "All the reviews of The Sacred Journey when it was first launched were positive, and that's been echoed by the people who've seen it.

"It certainly isn't a flop and as many people who can should see it."