Melburnians will take any excuse to spend a balmy evening outside with a bottle of good wine, and our beloved Moonlight Cinema always provides a pretty solid justification. From December, Moonlight Cinema is coming back to the Royal Botanic Gardens, with a fresh season of big-screen releases, festive favourites and family films.
Now in its 31st summer season, Australia’s favourite outdoor cinema will take over Central Lawn from Wednesday, December 2, 2026, to Sunday, April 11, 2027. Expect golden-hour picnics followed by magical movies under the stars, all set within one of Melbourne’s most lovely green spaces.
Kicking off the season is The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, with screenings in Melbourne on December 2, 5 and 9. The opening program also brings a heap of new releases to the big screen, including Verity, the psychological thriller starring Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett; a gloriously tear-jerking new adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility (screenplay by Australia's own Diana Reid); and Wild Horse 9. Other titles on the early lineup include Wicker, Primetime and Focker in Law, starring Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro and Ariana Grande.
Naturally, things will turn especially festive around Christmas time. Moonlight’s Christmas Favourites program runs from December 11 to 23, with seasonal staples including Love Actually, The Polar Express, Home Alone, The Holiday and Elf. There’s also Ebenezer, a new ghost story set in Dickens’ London...
Melbourne's a movie loving town, which means there's always a special screening, career retrospective or movie night around the corner. Check out our round-up of the best upcoming film events and screenings below. For more Melbourne movie fun, take a look at the best upcoming film festivals and our latest movie reviews.
