When Chris and Grace Rottenberry opened Riviera Cinema Ōamaru, almost exactly a year ago, a third screen was not part of the script.

The movie industry was still in recovery from Covid, and Chris says with the schedule of films available, they thought they’d only be able to sustain two theatres.

“And then after opening, we dabbled a little bit. We did a French film, we did some arthouse stuff, and it all did really well.

“So we thought, with the release schedule ramping up to pre-Covid levels this year, from about now, that we needed the third screen because there was too much content and Ōamaru likes a bit of everything.”

So, plot twist, in January the decision was made to run three screens, with a target opening date of June 19. 

“And we have met the target, which is nice,” Chris says.

The couple have done most of the hard work bringing the room up to scratch themselves, and the past few nights haven’t been in bed much before 3am while they get everything done.

The theatre seats 42, with 36 individual chairs and three, two-seater couches.

They have replaced everything in the original theatre, except the curtains and the red carpet.

“The bits of the red carpet you see is the original carpet, but everything else used to all just be wood. So we gutted everything and we carpeted ourselves,” Chris says.

“We put the chairs together ourselves and did all the painting with the help of our landlord. And we ripped down the old screen frame and rebuilt it all.

Only the new electrics were left to the experts.

Chris says the demand for a third screen is not only a good sign for cinema in Ōamaru, but also for New Zealand.

“Or really, worldwide. It's bouncing back, which is great. It's a good mixture of original and sequel content.”

Three screens offer much more flexibility, and outside of the school holidays, the business will be able to offer around 80 to 90 sessions a week.

“And then in the school holidays, who knows, there will be over a hundred.”

The Rottenberrys haven’t had a chance to stop and think how they’ll celebrate opening night of screen number three, but it is appropriate that the first screening is Cleo from 5 to 7, an arthouse film for the local film society.

“The film society night will be sort of the grand opening,” Chris says. “We have a really good partnership with them. 

The first public screening is on Matariki (June 20).

“Sony's given us a week-early screening of Karate Kid Legends, so that’s very nice of them. We told them we'd open it to the public with their film, so they’re pretty happy.”

As for first birthday celebrations, the pair say watch this space.

“We’re not just sure yet, it’s probably along the lines of very cheap tickets, so keep an eye out for that.”