Lights On. Doors Open. Magic Restored. Our Cinema
Made for Movie Lovers The New Starlight
Designed from the ground up for comfort, connection, and actual leg room, the new Starlight Cinema is a fresh chapter for film in Taupō. It may not look like Cinderella’s Castle from the outside, but trust us there’s real magic in this building: it’s literally the only space in town with ceilings tall enough to house a proper cinema. That alone was a triumph. The rest? Even better.
Inside, everything and we mean everything is brand new. From the screens and projection to the surround sound, lighting, and seating, we’ve rebuilt Starlight with no shortcuts and no “that’s good enough” moments. It’s the cinema experience we always wished existed here… so we built it.
Watch in Comfort Seats Worth Talking About
We heard every complaint (and made a few of our own), so this time around we went all in on comfort. Plush, roomy, and built for long movies Screen 1 even features extra-recline seats for maximum coziness.
No sticky floors, no months old popcorn smell - just the comfiest way to watch the latest and greatest movies from around the world!
The Screens The Main Attraction
Starlight now features three modern auditoriums, designed to bring every film to life whether it’s a blockbuster, a Sunday matinee, or a festival premiere:
| Screen | Seats | Special Feature |
| Screen 1 | 44 seats | Our most relaxed screen the recliners are that good |
| Screen 2 | 37 seats | The go-to screen for friends, families & full crews |
| Screen 3 | 32 seats | Small in size, huge in atmosphere – the cinephile favourite |
Each cinema includes one wheelchair space. This wheelchair space and companion seating can be selected when purchasing your tickets.
All three are equipped with:
| • Brand new picture-perfect screens | • Perfect sightlines & acoustics |
| • Brand new immersive surround sound | • Designed by movie lovers, for movie lovers |
| • Brand new custom-designed seating | • Zero bad seats. None. We checked. |
More Than Movies Built for the Community
From blockbuster premieres to family favourites to indie gems and festival events, Starlight is here to bring film culture back to life one screening at a time.
Movies for Everyone Accessibility
For mobility impaired guests, there's no stairs to traverse, and each cinema includes a wheelchair space, which can be booked with a companion seat when buying your tickets.
For hearing impaired guests, we offer use of a seat mounted caption display, or headphones. These headphones play the film soundtrack, while providing a magnetic field for hearing aid telecoils (T-coil or T-switch).
For visually impaired guests, we offer use of headphones which can either play the film soundtrack, or an audio descriptive narration.
Please pop into the box office a bit before your screening time and we'll get you sorted!
