Lunar Drive-In
115 S. Gippsland Highway,
Melbourne,
VIC
3175
115 S. Gippsland Highway,
Melbourne,
VIC
3175
3 people
favorited this theater
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
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.
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Lost Memory
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Recent comments (view all 13 comments)
Screen 1 in the above photo looks a bit low down for a drive-in screen i think?
This place has 4 screens
It opened its 4th screen around 2011
Opening movie(first time) was “Assingment Paris”.
the 4th screen looks a lot smaller than the others
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”.).
“Runaway match”(“Marriage by motor”) was released in 1903.
4th screen opened on 27/12/2010.
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.
When did this drive-in change its name to Lunar?