Overview
The idea that arts and sports don't mix was never going to hold up in Melbourne, a place where standing in line at the city's annual film festival often means hearing a chat about AFL scores filtering down the queue. Eclipse Cinema is another case in point. When it opens in August 2025, it will launch the Victorian capital's newest boutique and independent movie theatre at an address that was previously home to the Sherrin factory.
Aussie rules footballs are no longer manufactured at 32 Wellington Street in Collingwood. Soon, big-screen delights via digital projection and high-definition sound will be the site's main creation. Set to start welcoming in film lovers by the time that winter is out, Eclipse nods to cinema history, too, by taking the name of a picture palace that once stood on the suburb's Smith Street from 1913 to around 1917.
Expect a blast from the past among the 64-seater spot's movie range as well, balancing new releases with retrospective flicks, with a particular focus on indie, queer, First Nations and gender-diverse filmmaking. Melbourne-made fare will also be in the spotlight, and so will titles that you mightn't have caught on their limited general-release runs. This is the type of venue where a Pedro Almódovar (The Room Next Door) picture will grace the screen each Wednesday, for instance, and where the likes of 2024 Melbourne International Film Festival Bright Horizons Award-winner Universal Language will also get a spin.
Eclipse Cinema hails from owner/operator Mark Walker, who boasts 15-plus years working at MIFF, was a projectionist at both Yarraville's Sun Theatre and Carlton's Cinema Nova, and also co-founded Pivotonian Cinema in Geelong, running it for nearly ten years.
"It is so exciting to be launching a new boutique cinema in this culturally rich neighbourhood, and I'm truly confident locals will embrace the independent and cutting-edge cinema that the Eclipse will offer," says Walker
For snacks and sips during the silver-screen show, Eclipse Cinema will dish up popcorn and homemade choc tops, as well as wine.
Before the theatre opens its doors — in fact, to help it finish its build and do just that — you can also show your support via its Pozible crowdfunding campaign. Until the end of July, Walker is aiming to raise $25,000. Rewards include a three-year founding membership, which will see your name featured on-screen at every session and score you discounted tickets; private-screening packages; and big-screen advertising options.
And no, Melbourne can never have too many cinemas — with FoMo in East Brunswick and Palace Penny Lane in Moonee Ponds among the city's other openings in the past few years. A new IMAX at Village Cinemas Fountain Gate is also on the way before the end of 2025.
Find Eclipse Cinema at 32 Wellington Street, Collingwood sometime in August — keep an eye on the venue's Instagram and Facebook pages in the interim, and head to its Pozible campaign before Thursday, July 31, 2025 to lend your support.