The virtual cinema will feature more than 100 rare, classic and arthouse titles.
Binged your way through everything on Netflix? The Theatre Royal Castlemaine has you cinephiles sorted with its brand new video-on-demand service, Royalflix + Chill.
The key takeaways
- Castlemaine’s iconic Theatre Royal has launched an on-demand movie service, ‘Royalflix and Chill’
- The virtual cinema allows the venue to connect with people who may not be able to physically attend and a way to show more arthouse and international films with less overheads
- The theatre is one of the last remaining single-screen venues in the country
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Known as one of the last remaining single-screen venues in the country, and one of the oldest continuously operating theatres in the southern hemisphere with a history dating back to 1854, the iconic cinema, unfortunately, hasn’t been immune to the effects of the ongoing lockdowns and restrictions and joins the growing list of financially struggling venues across the state.
“The cinema is one of the toughest arms of our business. We are one of the last remaining single-screen venues in the country and that is because it is so hard to make ends meet when there is so much available to view in the digital world,” says Theatre Royal co-owner, Felicity Cripps.
“But it’s also very special and as a long-standing ‘Picture Palace’, we want to do all we can to keep it going. That’s where our virtual cinema comes in. A way to connect with people who may not be able to physically attend our cinema and a way to show more arthouse and international films with less overheads. It’s intended to compliment the in-house offering and draw a wider audience with a uniquely curated library of amazing cinema, available to everyone.”
Co-curated by Theatre Royal’s own Felicity Cripps, along with contributions from a few cinephile friends of the Theatre and Castlemaine Documentary Festival Director, Claire Jaegar, the virtual cinema Royalflix + Chill will provide viewers with a selection of more than 100 rare, classic and arthouse titles that can be rented to watch at home across a variety of different genres.
From popular contemporary flicks like A Quiet Place Part II and Get Out to classic films like Gran Torino, Roman Holiday and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and rare international titles like German romantic comedy Mostly Martha to important Australian documentaries such as Firestarter – The Story of Bangarra, there are heaps of titles to choose from to suit any taste.
It will include plenty of titles that have premiered at MIFF over recent years and better still, five new films will be added to the collection each month with Theatre Royal’s expert staff curating a viewing experience you can enjoy from your own home, whenever you like.
To level up your experience, the cinema has even teamed up with Melbourne’s best cocktail bottlers, The Everleigh to curate their own line of perfectly crafted Negronis or Martinis to sip at home while watching a movie from Royalflix + Chill, available for pick-up or delivery.
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Not only an important cinema in regional Victoria, but The Theatre Royal is also a live music venue, a bar, a pizza restaurant and a cultural institution all housed within a heritage-listed building. If you love watching movies and you’re keen to support a historically and culturally significant venue and help keep local cinema alive in a time when the Arts industry is doing it tough, this might be just the thing for you.
Pending lockdowns in Regional Victoria, Theatre Royal’s physical cinema will continue to screen some titles for film-goers, adhering to government guidelines on indoor capacity limits. For session times and to book tickets, visit the website.
For more info about Royalflix + Chill or to browse movie titles, head here.
