Palace Cinemas is an Australian cinema chain that specialises in arthouse and international films. Their head office are based in the

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

suburb of

South Yarra South Yarra is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Melbourne and Stonnington local government areas. South Yarra recorded a populati ...

and they operate locations in New South Wales (

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

, Norton Street,

Byron Bay Byron Bay ( Minjungbal: ''Cavvanbah'') is a beachside town located in the far-northeastern corner of New South Wales, Australia (in Bundjalung Country). It is located north of Sydney and south of Brisbane. Cape Byron, a headland adjac ...

, Ballina& Oxford St), Victoria (

Coburg Coburg ( , ) is a Town#Germany, town located on the Itz (river), Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Ernestine duchies, Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only ...

, Brighton Bay, Northcote,

Balwyn Balwyn () is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 10 km east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Boroondara local government area. Balwyn recorded a population of 13,495 at the 2021 census. The sub ...

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

Moonee Ponds Moonee Ponds is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Moonee Valley Local government ar ...

& The Astor Theatre), Western Australia ( Raine Square), Queensland (

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Fortitude Valley Fortitude Valley (often called "The Valley" by local residents) is an inner suburb of the City of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. In the , Fortitude Valley had a population of 9,708 people. The suburb features two pedestri ...

) &

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

Operations

Palace Cinema operate a variety of locations that specialise in international and local art-house films and cinema events. Palace has been managed by the Zeccola family since its inception. Palace Moore Park has a non-competition deal with its neighbouring cinema

Hoyts The HOYTS Group of companies in Australia and New Zealand includes HOYTS Cinemas, a cinema chain, and Val Morgan, which sells advertising on cinema screens and digital billboards. The company was established by dentist Arthur Russell in Melbo ...

to not screen mainstream titles. While Palace only owns one cinema in WA, it also operates several others in partnership with Luna Cinemas. The Luna Palace Cinemas line have their own independent website, membership program and offers. Palace Cinema's regular nationwide membership and offers in other states, are therefore not valid at these cinemas. Luna Palace uniquely operates two seasonal outdoor cinemas, one in Leederville (opposite their traditional cinema) and one in

Mosman Park Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local governm ...

Film festivals

Palace also operate a series of international film festivals, highlighting a range of films from a chosen country. Festivals include the

Alliance Française French Film Festival L'Alliance Française French Film Festival is an annual French film festival in Australia organised by Alliance Française. The Alliance Française The Alliance Française was founded in 1883 in Paris and is dedicated to promoting and encouragi ...

, the

Lavazza Luigi Lavazza S.p.A. (), shortened and stylized as LAVAZZA, is an Italian manufacturer of coffee products. Founded in Turin in 1895 by Luigi Lavazza, it was initially run from a small grocery store at Via San Tommaso 10. The business (Italian: ...

Italian Film Festival, the Spanish Film Festival, German Film Festival and the British Film Festival.

History

Palace Cinemas was founded by Antonio Zeccola in 1965. Zeccola's first cinema, Pix Theatre in Noble Park, was originally only open on weekends and operated as a dance theatre for the rest of the week. In late 1994, Palace opened ''The Como'' and ''The George'' cinemas in Melbourne. ''The George'' originally focused on "new Australian films as well as experimental fare and cinema of a more quirky nature, whether sexual, social or political", while ''The Como'' highlighted "films selected from the Cannes, Venice, Toronto and Berlin festivals". In 1995, Palace acquired the Academy Twin cinema on Oxford Street in Sydney and opened the four screen Verona complex.

Nicole Kidman Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an Australian and American actress and producer. Known for Nicole Kidman on screen and stage, her work in film and television productions across many genres, she has consistently ranked among the world ...

officially opened the Verona site on Valentine's Day in 1996. In 2000, Palace Norton Street held Australia's first professionally organised Italian film festival. In 2005, Cinema Como received a $1 million renovation. Antonio Zeccola announced that Brighton Bay, The George and Palace's Sydney locations would receive similar refurbishment. In December, Palace announced they would take over and reopen Sydney's Chauvel cinema. In 2016, Palace moved their head office to South Yarra. In 2017, Palace Cinemas opened ''Palace Central''. The venue features 10 standard cinemas and three Palace Platinum cinemas. Two of the cinemas feature floor to ceiling windows that curtains obscure when a screening begins. The Pentridge Cinema opened in 2020 in the shopping centre located inside the old

HM Prison Pentridge HM Prison Pentridge, better known as Pentridge Prison, was an Australian prison established in 1851 in Coburg, Victoria. The first convicts arrived at the gaol in 1851. The facility closed on 1 May 1997, although some of the heritage-listed buil ...

in the northern Melbourne suburb of

. It was the first Palace Cinema to open with a

Dolby Atmos Dolby Atmos is a surround sound technology developed by Dolby Laboratories. It expands on existing surround sound systems by adding height channels as well as free-moving sound objects, interpreted as three-dimensional objects with neither horiz ...

dedicated auditorium. In November 2023, Palace announced that it would be permanently closing Palace Verona in February 2024. The site would be replaced with a new location at

The Entertainment Quarter The Entertainment Quarter is an entertainment precinct in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, Australia. The Entertainment Quarter sits beside Disney Studios Australia in the suburb of Moore Park, three kilometres south-east of the Sydney central ...

in Moore Park. In December 2023, Palace's

location ''Penny Lane'' opened to the public. The cinema has 11 indoor screens and a rooftop cinema. Palace Verona closed on 25 February 2024.

Locations

Adelaide

* Palace Nova Eastend, 12 screens ( Cinema Place), host of the

Adelaide Film Festival The Adelaide Film Festival (AFF, formerly ADLFF) is a film festival usually held for two weeks in mid-October in movie theater, cinemas in Adelaide, South Australia. Originally presented wikt:Special:Search/biennial, biennially in March from 2 ...

from 2020 * Palace Nova Prospect, 14 screens ( Prospect Road)

Brisbane

* Barracks * James Street (formerly Centro)

Byron Bay

* Ballina Fair

Canberra

* Palace Electric

Melbourne

* The Astor Theatre (mostly classic films) * Balwyn * Brighton Bay * Dendy Brighton * Pentridge Cinema (opened 2020, located in the new shopping centre in old Pentridge Prison, First Palace cinema with Dolby Atmos auditorium) * Cinema Como * The Kino (partnership) *

Westgarth Theatre The Westgarth Theatre, formerly the Valhalla Cinema and now operating as the Palace Westgarth, is a heritage-listed movie theatre in the Westgarth neighbourhood of Northcote in Melbourne, Australia. History The Westgarth arose from an era in ...

* Penny Lane

Perth

* Raine Square *Cinemas in partnership with Luna Cinemas **

Luna Leederville Luna Leederville (formerly ''New Oxford Theatre'', ''Nickelodeon'', Olympia, Star Theatre and Luna Cinema) is a cinema complex located at the corner of Oxford and Vincent streets in Leederville, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. History T ...

** Luna on SX,

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

** Windsor Cinema, Nedlands ** Luna Outdoor, Leederville ** Camelot Outdoor,

Sydney

* Central * Norton Street * The Chauvel Cinema * Moore Park

Closed cinemas

Adelaide

* Nova Eastend (

Rundle Street Rundle Street, often referred to as "Rundle Street East" as distinct from Rundle Mall, is a street in the East End of the city centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It runs from Pulteney Street to East Terrace, where it becomes Ru ...

)

Perth

* Palace Northbridge

Sydney

* Academy Twin (Paddington) * The Walker Cinema (North Sydney) * Verona

Palace Films

Palace has produced and distributed such Australian films as

Kokoda Kokoda is a station town in the Oro Province of Papua New Guinea. It is famous as the northern end of the Kokoda Track, site of the eponymous Kokoda Track campaign of World War II. In that campaign, it had strategic significance because it had the ...

and Chopper, and distribute many foreign language films in Australia.

References

External links

Palace Cinemas website
{{Cinema of Australia Australian companies established in 1930 Cinema chains in Australia Film production companies of Australia

Operations

Film festivals

History

Locations

Adelaide

Brisbane

Byron Bay

Canberra

Melbourne

Perth

Sydney

Closed cinemas

Adelaide

Perth

Sydney

Palace Films

See also

References

External links