In the 1970s, business waned and the Rex was no longer commercially successful. In January 1973 it was taken over by the Star Group, who renamed the cinema "Studio 1". Films were shown Sunday to Wednesday, and Thursday-Sunday the building was given over to the more commercially lucrative pastime of bingo, like so many cinemas in this period. The dining room was filled with fruit machines. In 1976 the cinema changed hands once more and was taken over by the gambling company Zetters, who made major alterations to the building by dividing the auditorium into three sections. 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.