Movies are coming back to Mudgee, beginning with screenings of The Great Gatsby and Monsters University in July.
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The renovated Town Hall Theatre has been equipped with the highest standard of cinema equipment, offering the full moviegoing experience, and Mid-Western Regional Council will take advantage of the new facility to begin running a monthly movie weekend.
The Great Gatsby and Monsters University will start the program on the final weekend of the school holidays, which is also the weekend of the Small Farm Field Days, July 11-14.
“These two movies just reiterate that this is a really relevant cinema,” said council’s community services manager, Kate Power. “You’re going to get a cinema experience here.”
The Great Gatsby is Baz Luhrmann’s extravagant adaptation of the jazz age novel, which opened in Australia on May 30, while Monsters University is the animated sequel to Monsters Inc, released on June 10.
“We’ll try to target a younger audience and an older audience every month,” Ms Power said, saying council would watch the box office results on new films to see which films for children and adults were proving most popular.
Ms Power said only the theatre’s state-of-the-art new equipment had made it possible for Mudgee to secure movies so soon after the release date, as old-style film reels are about to be eliminated in favour of modern digital technology.
“Monsters University is a coup,” she said. “It’s four weeks post-release and we’re getting it during school holidays.”
The screening is being run by volunteers from Mudgee’s Rotary Club, who will also operate a candy bar.
Screenings will be held once a month for at least the next six months, continuing into the future if audience numbers are strong.
Ms Power said council had heard the call from the Youth Council and the community to facilitate movie screenings, and she hoped it would be popular enough to continue.
Already, Ms Power has reason to expect a successful event, with council taking phone calls from members of the public as rumours about The Great Gatsby’s Mudgee premiere began to leak.
“The community needs to support it,” she said. “This is very much a community service.”
Tickets will be available at council chambers from June 24, at $14 for adults, $10 for children or concession, and children under five free.
For details on upcoming movies, tickets and session times, Ms Power urged people to follow council’s Facebook page, and she hopes to have trailers each month in time to show before the movies to announce the next month’s films.
Screening times
Thursday July 11: 7pm - The Great Gatsby
Friday July 12: 7pm - The Great Gatsby
Saturday July 13:
11.30am - Monsters University
3pm and 7pm - The Great Gatsby
Sunday 14 July:
10.30am and 1.30pm - Monsters University
4.30pm - The Great Gatsby