The Story of Princess Cinemas in Waterloo

There’s a lovely full-circle moment happening in Uptown Waterloo this week.

On September 18, 1985, a brand-new little cinema on Princess Street showed its first movie.

It was Casablanca.

Exactly 41 years later, Casablanca is going back on a Princess screen.

Only this time, the cinema around it looks very different.

Princess Cinemas now has three screens across two Uptown locations, and its Twin has just come through a summer renovation with bigger screens, new seats, more legroom and a redesigned layout.

Not bad for something that started with two 16mm projectors.

Princess began with two recent Wilfrid Laurier University graduates, John Tutt and Chris Polci.

Kitchener-Waterloo didn’t really have the kind of repertory and independent cinema they wanted to see, so they decided to create one.

They borrowed $5,000, bought two 16mm projectors and found a space on Princess Street.

Then they had to convince people to come.

Long before social media, they promoted the cinema the old-fashioned way: handing out flyers at cafés, bookstores and around the university community.

On September 18, 1985, the lights went down for the first time.

Casablanca rolled.

That first theatre became what we now know as the Original Princess Cinema.

For about two decades, Princess remained a one-screen operation before expanding with the Princess Twin on King Street, giving it three screens across its two Uptown Waterloo locations.

This summer, both Twin auditoriums were renovated one at a time.

Now the work is complete just in time for Princess’s 41st anniversary.

And what better way to reopen than with the movie that started it all?

On Friday, September 18, Princess is screening Casablanca twice at the newly renovated Twin.

The screenings are at 7 PM and 7:15 PM and are free for Princess members.

So someone walking into Princess this Friday can sit in a very different cinema and watch exactly what Waterloo audiences watched there 41 years ago.

I love that.

But the celebration doesn’t stop indoors.

After Casablanca, the birthday party moves outside.

Princess Street West between King Street and Dorset Street will close to traffic for the celebration.

At 9 PM, Princess will screen Buena Vista Social Club outdoors for everyone to watch for free.

Which means 41 years after Princess began with two little projectors on Princess Street, it is celebrating by turning Princess Street itself into the cinema.

That feels like a pretty good birthday.

Friday, September 18, 2026

Casablanca
7 PM & 7:15 PM
Princess Twin
Free for Princess members

Buena Vista Social Club
9 PM
Outdoor screening on Princess Street West
Free for everyone

For more local stories, events and things worth knowing about around the region, browse the latest Waterloo Region Rhythm stories.