Outdoor Movie Season Is Back: Sunset Cinema Has Announced Its 2024–25 Dates and Bondi Beach Film Lineup
Get ready to roll out your picnic blanket and watch movies under the stars — including at North Sydney, Abbotsford and St Kilda.
When summer arrives in Australia, everywhere becomes a cinema — or so it can seem. After spending winter watching movies indoors, including when festival season is in full swing, film lovers get their pick of outdoor spots to catch a flick. No one should go throwing stones at random but, if you did, it wouldn't be hard to hit an outside picture palace in Sydney and Melbourne when the weather warms up.
One such movie-adoring mainstay is Sunset Cinema, which has locked in its return for the summer of 2024–25 (and for the end of spring and beginning of autumn in some locations). This time around, it'll set up its big screen in six places. Bondi Beach is the first — but seasons in Canberra, North Sydney, Wollongong and Abbotsford in Melbourne will also start before the year is out. Then, come January, it's St Kilda's turn.
For Sydneysiders keen to watch a film with a beachy backdrop, you'll be heading to Dolphin Court at Bondi Pavilion again between Thursday, November 14–Saturday, December 21. The six-week season is fittingly opening with The Pool, the new documentary about Bondi Icebergs, before screening a mix of new, recent and classic titles Tuesday–Sunday weekly. On the list: Smile 2, Deadpool & Wolverine, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Gladiator II, Saturday Night and Wicked among 2024 releases; the retro likes of The Princess Diaries, Lords of Dogtown, the OG Freaky Friday, Finding Nemo, 500 Days of Summer, Dirty Dancing and Shrek; and Christmas viewing via Elf, The Holiday, Love Actually and Home Alone.
Canberra's run stretches across Thursday, November 21–Saturday, February 22 at Australian National Botanic Gardens, with The Wild Robot, Memoir of a Snail, Paddington in Peru, Moana 2, Better Man and Kraven the Hunter on its lineup, plus festive fare and plenty of the same flicks as Bondi.
There's no lineup out yet for Sunset Cinema's return to North Sydney Oval from Thursday, December 5–Saturday, March 15 — or for its Wollongong Botanic Garden stop across Thursday, December 12–Saturday, March 22. Also, there's no program or set location for Abbotsford's Thursday, December 5–Saturday, January 4 season or St Kilda's Thursday, January 9–Saturday, March 8 counterpart. Accordingly, watch this space.
Whatever gets the projectors whirring at each site around the country, BYO picnics are encouraged, but the event is fully licensed, so alcohol can only be purchased onsite. Didn't pack enough snacks? There's hot food options, plus plenty of the requisite movie treats like chips, chocolates, lollies and popcorn.
Sunset Cinema 2024–25 Dates
Bondi Beach, NSW: Thursday, November 14–Saturday, December 21, 2024 at Dolphin Court
Canberra, ACT: Thursday, November 21, 2024–Saturday, February 22, 2025 at Australian National Botanic Gardens
North Sydney, NSW: Thursday, December 5, 2024–Saturday, March 15, 2025 at North Sydney Oval
Wollongong, NSW: Thursday, December 12, 2024–Saturday, March 22, 2025 at Wollongong Botanic Garden
Abbotsford, VIC: Thursday, December 5, 2024–Saturday, January 4, 2025, venue TBC
St Kilda, VIC: Thursday, January 9–Saturday, March 8, 2025, venue TBC
Sunset Cinema's 2024–25 season runs at various venues in New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory from November–March. Head to the Sunset Cinema website for further details.
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