Lunar Drive-In

115 S. Gippsland Highway,
Melbourne, VIC 3175

1000 cars

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Related Websites

Lunar Drive-In (Official)

Additional Info

Previously operated by: Village Theatres

Previous Names: Dandenong Panoramic Drive-In, Village Dandenong Drive-In

Nearby Theaters

Lunar Drive-In

Located in the south-east Melbourne suburb of Dandendong. The Dandenong Panoramic Drive-In opened on May 4, 1956 with Dana Andrews in “Assignment Paris”. In 1984 this drive-in closed and the property was used as a flea market.

After being re-built this drive-in re-opened on September 19, 2002 as a twin screen drive-in. The re-opening films were “Austin Powers in Goldmember”, “Lilo and Stitch” and “Stuart Little 2”. One year later, on 3rd September 2003, a third screen was added. The Lunar Drive-In has a capacity for 950 cars. On 27th December 2010 it became a four-screen theatre with the car capacity increased to 1,000.

Despite being a very successful drive-in under the ownership of David Kilderry, the hike in land taxes proved to be an obstacle which made it uneconomical to operate and it was sold in December 2022. The Lunar Drive-In closed on 9th July 2023 and played to capacity crowds on its final days of operation. Final films were:- “Step Brothers”, “Back to the Future”, “Austin Powers in Goldmember”, “Grease”, “Elemental”, “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts”, “The Flash”, “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”, “No Hard Feelings”, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”, “The Little Mermaid” & “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3”. It will be greatly missed.

Contributed by Lost Memory

Recent comments (view all 13 comments)

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on February 5, 2018 at 11:29 pm

Screen 1 in the above photo looks a bit low down for a drive-in screen i think?

P
P on March 3, 2018 at 12:36 pm

This place has 4 screens

P
P on March 3, 2018 at 5:10 pm

It opened its 4th screen around 2011

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on September 3, 2018 at 7:15 am

Opening movie(first time) was “Assingment Paris”.

kennerado
kennerado on October 2, 2019 at 5:12 pm

the 4th screen looks a lot smaller than the others

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on October 13, 2019 at 6:31 am

Lunar Drive-in was seen briefly on the Australian tv series “Which car” after the(host?) test drived a 50th aniversity version of the Mustang from the movie “Bullitt. At the end of the segment, the screen(unknown which screen?) was seen screening the World’s first car chase from a movie("Runaway match”, also called “Marriage by motor”.).

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on October 13, 2019 at 6:33 am

“Runaway match”(“Marriage by motor”) was released in 1903.

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on April 19, 2020 at 7:39 am

4th screen opened on 27/12/2010.

Drive-In 54
Drive-In 54 on January 10, 2023 at 1:22 pm

Australia’s largest drive-in cinema site will shut down in mid-2023.

Melbourne’s Lunar Drive-In, located in Dandenong, was purchased by the Pellicano Group in December, following its sale in response to surging land taxes in the suburb.

The site is expected to receive an industrial fit-out in the future, with proximity to other business parks in Melbourne’s south-east.

Denny Pine
Denny Pine on April 17, 2024 at 6:52 pm

When did this drive-in change its name to Lunar?

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