The Palace Electric Cinema taking shape on the ground floor of the new Nishi high-rise at Acton could be open just in time for Boxing Day, traditionally the biggest movie-going day of the year.
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The Canberra Times has been granted a sneak peek inside Canberra's next cinema, where workers have been preparing the building's floors, walls and ceilings ahead of the installation of eight silver screens and more than 800 seats.
Australia's largest independent movie exhibitor, Palace Cinemas, is spending more than $5 million on its Canberra foray.
''We are aiming for January but we are doing everything we can to be open by Christmas,'' Palace Cinemas national marketing manager Stephanie Zeccola said this week.
If the fit-out is complete by Boxing Day, Palace Electric expects to screen the Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman remake of Les Miserables and Peter Jackson's 3D Lord of the Rings prequel, The Hobbit.
But while two of the cinema's eight digital projectors will be capable of showing 3D movies, Ms Zeccola said Palace Electric would be selective with the Hollywood studio films it screened. ''This will be a home for art-house films and international and independent cinema, plus what we'd call quality mainstream movies,'' she said.
Driven by a rising number of older filmgoers seeking more than popcorn movies and new audiences for such alternative big-screen content as Paris operas, the ''quality'' end of the Canberra cinema market is keenly contested.
The existing Dendy and Greater Union cinemas already compete for art-house and foreign-language movie audiences, but Ms Zeccola said the national capital was underserved for such screens.
''There's definitely room in this market, where it can be a challenge to get screen space for these types of films,'' she said.
Already pencilled in for exclusive seasons at Palace Electric are French romantic-comedy Paris-Manhattan and the Oscar-nominated French-Canadian heartwarmer Monsieur Lazhar. The cinema will also host French and Italian film festivals, plus operas and ballets.
But Canberra's Dendy Cinemas, which hosts the 16th Canberra International Film Festival from October 31, won't be altering its mix of mainstream and art-house films.
''Dendy will continue to play the wide selection of quality films which the Canberra community knows us for,'' a spokesman said.
Palace Electric, which takes its name from the Electric Shadows picture theatre that closed in Civic in 2006, will offer online ticket booking and allocated seating, as well as a licensed bar and cafe.
Its smallest cinema will seat just 73 people and its largest 193.
Cinema general manager Lavanna Neal said up to 60 full-time, part-time and casual staff would be employed.
Palace Cinemas has more than 90 screens in 22 locations throughout Australia.
