Sydney's Westpac Openair Cinema Has Just Unveiled Its Full 40-Night Summer 2023 Program

How does anything compete with Mrs Macquaries Point's stunning view of Sydney Harbour, the city, the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge? By placing a 350-square-metre cinema screen at the scenic spot every summer, and filling it with an impressive array of new, recent and classic movies. That's the Westpac Openair Cinema setup, aka a Sydney institution — and, ahead of its return in January, the event has just unveiled its full 2023 lineup.

Details about Westpac Openair Cinema's latest Sunday, January 8—Tuesday, February 21 season have been dripping through since early October, including locking in its dates, announcing that Kitchen by Mike's Mike McEnearney will be behind its food range just like in 2022 and announcing Steven Spielberg's new flick The Fabelmans as the opening-night film. Along the way, the event has also named some of the movies hitting its screen, and it's been an exciting bill so far. Those flicks now have a heap more company.

Already on the list: the cinema-focused Empire of Light, the Cate Blanchett-starring Tár, #MeToo drama She Said, the Emma Thompson-led Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, and The Lost King with Sally Hawkins and Steve Coogan. And, there's also culinary thriller The Menu, bleak Irish comedy The Banshees of Inisherin, Whitney Houston biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody and certain blockbuster Avatar: The Way of Water, as well as stunning volcanologist documentary Fire of Love, the Emily Brontë-focused Emily, saucy threequel Magic Mike's Last Dance and rom-com What's Love Got to Do With It.

Throw in Olivia Wilde's Don't Worry Darling, 2022 Palme d'Or-winner comedy Triangle of Sadness, haute-couture comedy Mrs Harris Goes to Paris, and sessions of classics like Titanic, the OG Top Gun, Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown and Cinema Paradiso as well, and clearly the Westpac Openair Cinema bill is already stacked.

All of those titles are now joined by the Australian premiere of Darren Aronofsky's The Whale, aka the film that's bringing Brendan Fraser back into the spotlight; a preview of Guy Ritchie's Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre; Damien Chazelle's starry and jazzy Babylon; and the Bill Nighy-starring Living.

Movie buffs will also score another chance to see Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Bullet Train, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Top Gun: Maverick, Ticket to Paradise and Elvis, plus Jodie Comer-starring NT Live production Prima Facie.

And, in a special collaboration, viewers will be treated to a session of artist Wu Tsang's Moby Dick; or, The Whale thanks to Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the Art Gallery of New South Wales. It'll play with a will be live score, levelling up an already special way to see a movie.

Now that you know exactly what you'll be seeing, make a date to book tickets as soon as they go on sale. As happens every year, sessions are likely to book out quickly. Across the summer of 2018–19, more than 40,000 tickets sold within the first two days of pre-sale — so put Monday, December 12 in your diary ASAP, or Wednesday, December 7–Friday, December 9 for pre-sales if you're a Westpac customer.

Andrew Maccoll

Westpac Openair 2023 runs from Sunday, January 8—Tuesday, February 21. Head to the event website for further details — and for tickets from Monday, December 12, with pre-sales for Westpac customers from Wednesday, December 7–Friday, December 9.