Overview
It's a great time to be a movie buff in Melbourne — and it's going to get even better in the next few years. While the city's weather might be famously unpredictable, new cinema announcements have been proving the opposite. Every few months, another one pops up.
This time, Brunswick is in the hot seat thanks to the forthcoming Sparkly Bear Cinemas. Slated to set up shop on Weston Street near the suburb's Barkly Square shopping centre by 2020 — and set to give Melburnians a great example of spoonerisms at play — it'll boast a ten-screen set-up thanks to the folks behind the Classic Cinemas in Elsternwick, Lido Cinemas in Hawthorn and Cameo Cinemas in Belgrave.
As well as the usual movie screenings, the site will include a rooftop cinema for sultry summer viewings, as well as a live performance space that'll host gigs, comedy and other performances. A new dining precinct is also part of the complex, which is currently subject to town planning approval, with the foodie part of the project shining a spotlight on local makers.
For those counting at home (while waiting for more out-of-home film viewing options), that makes 51 new cinema screens over five sites that'll join Melbourne's cinema landscape in the next three years. Palace is opening a 15-screen site at Coburg's former Pentridge Prison, plus 12 screens at Moonee Ponds. The team behind Yarraville's Sun Theatre are working on a second eight-screen location in Footscray, while Village is building a six-screen cinema in Clayton near Monash University.