Westpac Openair Cinema's Summer 2023 Season Will Open with Steven Spielberg's 'The Fabelmans'

How do you start one of the most-anticipated film events on Sydney's annual calendar? For Westpac Openair Cinema, that's a familiar question. The answer in 2023: with the new movie by an all-time great, and one of the 2023 Oscar frontrunners: Steven Spielberg's The Fabelmans.

The prolific director's latest comes hot on the heels of 2021's West Side Story, which also received some Academy Award love via a swag of nominations and a win for Ariana DeBose for Best Supporting Actress. When The Fabelmans launches Westpac Openair's new season on Sunday, January 8, the next batch of Oscar nominations won't yet be out — but it'll still begin the beloved harbourside cinema's 2023 run in a glorious way.

The Fabelmans follows a teenager who wants to become a filmmaker, and takes loose inspiration from Spielberg's own childhood and early years in the business. Gabriel LaBelle plays that 16-year-old, with Michelle Williams (Venom: Let There Be Carnage) and Paul Dano (The Batman) as his parents, and Seth Rogen (Pam & Tommy) as his dad's best friend.

After already locking in its dates — with its 2023 season running until Tuesday, February 21 — and announcing that Kitchen by Mike's Mike McEnearney will be behind its food range just like in 2022, Westpac Openair Cinema doesn't reveal its full 40-night lineup until Monday, November 28. But alongside announcing The Fabelmans, the event advised that both the also cinema-focused Empire of Light and the Cate Blanchett-starring Tár will also grace its giant 350-square-metre cinema screen at Mrs Macquaries Point. And, so will #MeToo drama She Said, the Emma Thompson-led Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, and The Lost King with Sally Hawkins and Steve Coogan.

Those six films join a trio of other already-unveiled titles: this year's Palme d'Or-winner Triangle of Sadness, the Harry Styles- and Florence Pugh-starring thrills of Don't Worry Darling and the fashion-focused Mrs Harris Goes to Paris.

And, back when the dates were first announced, the team behind the beloved event did drop a few other names of movies that've caught their attention, and that "would be pretty awesome experiences on Sydney Harbour", though. On that list: Elvis, Top Gun: Maverick, Fire of Love, Ticket to Paradise, Moonage Daydream and Bros.