A PERMANENT movie theatre in Swan Hill could be little more than a year away, after movie-goers successfully voted with their feet and put bums on seats during the Twilight Cinemas trial.
Director Andrew Taylor said he was happy to announce that Twilight Cinemas was actively looking for a site in Swan Hill to develop a cinema complex.
This year’s Town Hall trial season came to a close on Sunday with a screening of Breaking Dawn Part Two.
Mr Taylor said the success of the trial had exceeded the company’s expectations.
“There’s no two ways about it, the trial has been an overwhelming success,” he said.
“From our perspective we’ve had very strong numbers, and competed against events like local sporting carnivals and the Swan Hill Show.”
The most successful film to hit Swan Hill during the indoor season trial was Ice Age 4, which “absolutely wiped the floor” according to Mr Taylor.
Other high performing films included Breaking Dawn Part Two, Madagascar 3, Avengers, Brave, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
Mr Taylor said he was keen to develop a permanent cinema site in Swan Hill as a long-term goal, and had been in discussions with council in regards to suitable locations, parking issues, and commercial viability.
He estimated Swan Hill could expect a new cinema in 12 to 18 months if all goes well.
“There is still a lot of work to be done to get to that level,” Mr Taylor said.
“Having said that, if someone came up to us tomorrow with a suitable venue we would be prepared to start almost immediately.”
Swan Hill Rural City Council’s deputy mayor Greg Cruickshank said that while the cinema trial hadn’t been formally discussed among the new council, he was confident new councillors would continue to support the venture.
“Andrew is quite keen to have a permanent cinema in Swan Hill but until that happens we’ve still got to have a cinema, which is why we extended the (town hall) trial prior to election under same conditions.”
Cr Cruickshank said council’s biggest concern about the town hall trial was that the cinema may displace other events, but to date it had not conflicted with any other events at the town hall.
For more of this story see Wednesday’s Guardian (November 21).
