Premium New Zealand cinema chain Silky Otter opens late next month or early December in semi-submerged quarters in the new research and innovation building on Market St.
It’ll offer eight identical cinemas each with 48 recliner seats with little tables in front for in-house food and drinks.
"It’s a fully-immersive experience, laser projection, surround sound and all that kind of stuff," says Silky Otter owner, Auckland-based Neil Lambert.
This’ll be his seventh NZ complex, making Silky Otter the largest NZ-owned chain.
"This location’s been kind of discussed since 2018, 2019, so before Covid, so it’s going to be good to finally see it out of the ground."
He adds: "We’ve just got a massive affinity with Queenstown. My wife and I got married there and we’ve spent so much time there."
Calling himself "just a movie geek", Lambert says they’ll screen a broad range of movies including foreign films and art-house movies as well as blockbusters which may be rolled out in several of the auditoriums at different times.
Each cinema will have five to six screenings a day between about 10am and 9pm.
Lambert says he’s not set ticket prices yet, "but a number of our locations are around $26 for a seat".
"We are a premium offering but we’re just your everyday movie ticket price."
There’ll also be a locals’ loyalty programme.
Lambert, who’ll employ 30-plus staff, says he won’t be competing with Arrowtown’s boutique Dorothy Browns, which he rates — "we’re going to have some good conversations with them about content and what they can take".
"But there’s a big gap in regards to the everyday cinema-going experience [in Queenstown]."
To whet movie-goers’ appetites, he says his opening bill’s likely to include Gladiator II, Wicked, Moana 2 and Mufasa: The Lion King.
As for ‘Silky Otter’, Lambert says he didn’t want a stock-standard name but something a bit random.
"And when you sit in a Silky Otter, then you immediately know what it is."
