The last film to be screened on the big screen before this change was Rollerball on 7 April 1976. The circle was divided into two small studio screens, Studio 1 and Studio 2 (accessed via the front foyer stairs), while the stalls were converted to use as a full-time bingo hall (accessed through the old café area). The studios opened on 11 April with Swinging Wives and Sex in the Office in Studio 1 and The Bruce Lee Story and Somebody's Stolen our Russian Spy in Studio 2. Closure Zetters' lease expired in 1988 and the Rex was sold to a property developer who planned to demolish the building to make way for new offices and flats. After a final screening of The Witches of Eastwick and Teen Wolf Too, the cinema closed its doors on 28 February 1988. Efforts by campaigners resulted in the Rex being spot-listed by English Heritage. A planning inspector for the Department of the Environment reported that Nye's building contributed to the "diverse nature" of Berkhamsted High Street and that the quality and quantity of the surviving interior features merited preservation, and redevelopment plans were quashed. The building's listed status protected it from demolition and severely limited any redevelopment schemes. Various proposals were put forward for the site, including: a plan to convert the Rex auditorium into an atrium for an office building (1992); a proposal for an office complex with twin lecture theatres in the divided circle with a restored restaurant area (1993), and a plan to convert the building into a health spa (1997); these all failed to meet the strict criteria for a listed building. A fire in 1994 damaged the stage area. By this time the building had become very run down and the owners, Estates and General Property Company, attempted to have the building de-listed to enable demolition. In 1996, they attempted to dispose of the property and offered it to local entrepreneur James Hannaway for £450,000. Hannaway hoped to restore and re-open the cinema, but was unable to raise the money, and the Rex was bought by Nicholas King Homes. A local campaign group, Friends of the Rex, was formed in 1997 with the aim of saving the Rex from demolition and acquiring it for use as a film centre, with film critic Barry Norman as their honorary president. The campaign was supported by the Twentieth Century Society, Joan