Revue Cinema, Toronto's oldest-running movie theatre, is facing the threat of closure after lease negotiations faltered.

Built between 1911 and 1912, the Roncesvalles theatre is far from just a beloved local site — it's also a designated heritage site, holding within its walls over a century of history, from hosting screenings to raise funds for the war effort in 1914 to being on the cutting edge of the city's art-house cinema scene in the 70s.

In 2006, the Revue Film Society was formed as a non-profit organization to maintain operations in the cinema following the death of the building's original owner and of the Festival Cinemas chain that had previously run the theatre.

Ever since, the Revue Film Society has operated as a non-profit, the building's sole tenant for nearly twenty years.

Now, though, the theatre's decades-long presence is at risk. On Thursday, June 27, the cinema released a statement on its Instagram account announcing that the organization had been unable to secure a lease on the property.

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"While we continue to attempt to negotiate in good faith with our landlord, we are unsure if we will be able to open past June 30," the statement reads. 

"In the event of a disruption, ticket holders, event rentals and members will be reimbursed."

The response to the statement was almost instantaneous, with a flood of concerned community members and devoted cinemaphiles ready to spring into action in whatever way possible to save the beloved theatre.

According to a recently-launched Change.org petition to save Revue Cinema, the building's landlord is demanding "the disbandment of the non-profit Revue Film Society, a 50 per cent rent increase, and to take over operations of the cinema," to the end of making it a for-profit business.

At the time of publication, the petition, which is directed at Ward 4 City Counsellor Gord Perks, MPP Bhutila Karpoche, Mayor Olivia Chow, MP Arif Virani, has received just under 4,000 signatures of their 5,000 signature goal.

At present, there have been no further updates from the Revue Film Society on the status of their good-faith negotiations with their landlords.

The future of Revue Cinema may be hanging in the balance for the time being. However, the theatre's many fans, like the generations of audiences who came before them, are holding out hope for a happy ending until the bitter end.