Everything we know about the reopening of Cine Copan after 40 years

The Copan building, one of the largest symbols of Brazilian modern architecture, will host a cinema again in downtown São Paulo. Closed since the 1980s, the Cine Copan will undergo a redevelopment process that anticipates its reopening as a cultural space next year.

The revival of Cine Copan restores a function envisioned since the original project by Oscar Niemeyer: to integrate housing, services, and culture in a single building. The initiative returns a large cultural facility to the city center and reinforces Copan's role as a living space – connecting architecture, city, and cultural production.

Cine Copan Project

The new Cine Copan, which will operate under the name Nu Cine Copan, will be managed by Viva do Brasil in partnership with Nubank. The proposal is to create a cinema hall with affordable tickets, encouraging audience presence and the revival of street cinemas. The hall will have a capacity for 442 seats, focusing on special releases, commented sessions, and meetings with artists.

From a technical point of view, the project provides for a 17-meter wide LED screen and a Dolby Atmos sound system aimed at exhibitions of popular movies and series, especially of Brazilian origin. In addition to the cinema, the space has been designed to host different audiovisual-related activities, including festivals and public events.

The facade of Cine Copan will be preserved, maintaining its original typography, and the project includes significant accessibility improvements, with ramps, elevators, and adapted areas. The redevelopment will also integrate the cinema into a new leisure axis on the second floor of Copan, featuring cafes, restaurants, exhibitions , and events.

Reopening with Hamlet

Before the definitive reopening as a cinema, Cine Copan will be occupied by a theatrical program that marks the beginning of its new phase. Starting on February 19, the space will host the show "Hamlet, dreams to come", directed by Rafael Gomes and starring Gabriel Leone, in a production created especially for the venue. Tickets are already on sale starting at R$ 40 (half-price).

During this phase, the stage will be set up where the audience will eventually sit, while the public will occupy the space designated for the screen, in sessions for 350 people. The season will run until April, with performances from Wednesday to Sunday, and will conclude this initial phase before the start of civil and technical works that will give a definitive form to the new Cine Copan.

History of Cine Copan

Cine Copan was inaugurated in August 1970, four years after the completion of the building, as one of the largest and most sophisticated cinema halls in São Paulo. With over 1,100 seats, the cinema opened its doors with a special screening of the film "007: On Her Majesty's Secret Service", quickly establishing itself as an important cultural meeting point in the city center.

The presence of a cinema at Copan was part of the original project conceived by Oscar Niemeyer in 1951, in partnership with Carlos Alberto Cerqueira Lemos. The proposal reinforced the idea of a multifunctional building, capable of concentrating housing, commerce, and culture, in tune with the urban life of São Paulo.

The closure of operations in 1986 coincided with the decline of street cinemas in the face of the expansion of cinemas in shopping centers. After various uses, including occupation by a religious institution in the 1990s, the space was closed in 2008. The reopening of Cine Copan, now in a new context, symbolizes the recovery of a cultural and urban heritage of the city.