{"id":865131,"date":"2026-08-23T04:32:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T04:32:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/865131\/"},"modified":"2026-08-23T04:32:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T04:32:14","slug":"drive-in-cinemas-are-rare-these-days-but-the-last-one-in-melbournes-north-still-draws-a-faithful-crowd-movies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/865131\/","title":{"rendered":"Drive-in cinemas are rare these days. But the last one in Melbourne\u2019s north still draws a faithful crowd | Movies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Between a funeral parlour and a sink factory, a queue of cars slowly disappears down a driveway. Most arrive with plenty of time to spare \u2013 to turn their backseats into beds, tune their radios to the film audio and let children play on the bitumen or finish their takeaway dinner. By the time darkness falls, hundreds of cars are pointed towards a screen that has outlived almost every other drive-in in Melbourne<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s something about watching a film under the stars, in the night air,\u201d says Michael O\u2019Neill, a car detailer who lives in Echuca, a five-hour return trip from the Coburg Drive-In.<\/p>\n

At the peak of their popularity, there were more than 300 drive-in cinemas in Australia. Now, the Coburg Drive-In is the last one left within an hour of the Melbourne CBD.<\/p>\n

The Coburg Drive-In is the last one left within an hour of the Melbourne CBD.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neil has been coming to the drive-in for 20 years, and when the light-up sign comes into view, it\u2019s not unlike the feeling of coming home. He visits monthly.<\/p>\n

People back home have often jeered, telling him it\u2019s a waste of time. But O\u2019Neill finds the traditional cinema experience lacklustre, \u201csat in a dark room, with phones buzzing and people talking\u201d. He wants to live the drive-in experience while he can.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just don\u2019t know \u2013 it could continue,\u201d he says. \u201cBut if the end does come with the Coburg Drive-in, you can\u2019t say I didn\u2019t have a good run out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael O\u2019Neill has been coming to the drive-in for 20 years: \u2018I feel safe and happy here.\u2019The retro Village Diner at the Coburg Drive-In.<\/p>\n

Factoring in petrol, a night out at the drive-in will cost O\u2019Neill about $150 \u2013 the equivalent, he says, to a night out in Echuca\u2019s pubs and clubs, which he finds \u201ctoo rough\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel safe and happy here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The drive-in demands little of its audience. You can lie down, walk around, talk and sing without fear of being hushed. Parents feel at ease bringing newborns, and dogs can curl up beside their owners.<\/p>\n

Sylvaine Moses and her son Jamie at the drive-in. Photograph: Mridula Amin\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

For Sylvaine Moses, it has been a safe haven for decades as a place to bring her son, Jamie, who lives with multiple disabilities. \u201cThis was the only place we could come as a family without feeling self-conscious about disturbing others,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

During films, there is a steady trickle of people wandering between the retro diner, playground and toilet block. The biggest breach of etiquette seems to be someone forgetting to switch off their headlights.<\/p>\n

Te in her van with her friend Shin and dog Ellie. <\/p>\n

Te, 29, a Coburg local, often arrives in her van with her dog Ellie.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a nice place for me when I\u2019m having a bad mental health day, and I\u2019ve brought friends when they\u2019re having a tough week,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Much has changed in the Coburg industrial area that the drive-in calls home. For many parents, though, the unchanged landscape inside the gates feels like a time carousel. Bringing their own children here feels like stepping back into their own childhood.<\/p>\n

Keziah Gillam was surprised when her 13-year-old daughter Callie asked about going to the drive-in with her best friends after the group saw them in retro films and TV shows like The Outsiders.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt had this middle-of-nowhere feel, and it\u2019s kind of outdoors, but you\u2019re cosy in your car with blankets. It means we can cuddle up,\u201d Callie says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought I\u2019ll never get the opportunity to visit one,\u201d adds her friend Colin, a first-timer.<\/p>\n

Keziah Gillam with a cuppa while her daughter and friends watch a thriller.<\/p>\n

Outside the gates, time has not stood still. Local historians say patrons used to be told to lock their doors when there was an escape from the nearby Pentridge prison.<\/p>\n

Now, the former prison has undergone a billion-dollar redevelopment into apartments and an entertainment precinct. The eight-hectare concrete parcel the drive-in sits on was sold for $12.5m to an investor in 2018, with Village Cinemas leasing the property back for 10 years as part of the deal.<\/p>\n

Callie and friends at the drive-in. Photograph: Mridula Amin\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Whether the site will operate as a drive-in beyond 2028 is unclear.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving a drive-in in our portfolio of cinemas is important to us and we\u2019re committed to ensuring that experience continues,\u201d says Andrew Howell, general manager of operations at Village Cinemas.<\/p>\n

However, the company would not confirm whether a decision had been made about the Coburg site\u2019s future after the current lease expires.<\/p>\n

The last picture show<\/p>\n

Across the back of several Village Cinemas staff jackets at the drive-in is stitched the words: \u201cThe Last Picture Show.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many have worked together for years; on busy nights they serve food and popcorn and jumpstart cars \u2013 something all the staff are trained to do. Some winter nights, staff have helped revive the dead batteries of about 30 cars.<\/p>\n

Stephen in the projector room: \u2018If it ever goes, a part of me will be gone.\u2019<\/p>\n

Stephen, who asked to keep his surname private, has spent almost three decades working in cinemas. Over his years at the drive-in he has seen marriage proposals and heartbreak \u2013 \u201cone guy discovered his wife in a car with another man\u201d.<\/p>\n

He went front-of-house when his job as projectionist ceased to exist in 2013 \u2013 the technology no longer required humans to thread film reels. Now in his late 60s, he suspects the drive-in will be the last job he has before he retires.<\/p>\n

Michael O\u2019Neill hopes the Coburg Drive-In will stay open for years to come. Photograph: Mridula Amin\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neill, meanwhile, suspects the Coburg Drive-In is the last one he\u2019ll ever be able to drive to regularly from his home.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it ever goes, a part of me will be gone forever, but I\u2019ll have to accept it.\u201d For him, he says, \u201cit would be like accepting the death of a loved one\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Between a funeral parlour and a sink factory, a queue of cars slowly disappears down a driveway. Most…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":865132,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,134],"class_list":["post-865131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=865131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865131\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/865132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=865131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=865131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=865131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}