Blockbusters are returning to Metro Cinemas screens along with a great offering of high quality, home-grown films

Hits including Wonder Woman 1984, Shadow in the Cloud and The Marksman have all made their anticipated debuts over summer while features such as Godzilla versus King Kong have actually been brought forward and will screen in mid-March.

General Manager of Metro Cinemas Bathurst, Mark Hewitt, said it was great to see films back on the big screen where they belong

"It really is great to be able to have these movies back in cinemas because that's the platform they were made for, not online or on streaming services," he said.

"Going to the movies is like going out for drinks or for dinner, it is all about the experience, becoming engrossed in a story and a different world and just enjoying yourself."

While big hits may have been missing over the past 12 months due to COVID-19, Mark said that the outbreak had allowed them to take a nostalgic direction.

"Unlike many other cinemas, we made the decision not to close and to keep trying to provide the community films that they know and love to see," he said.

"We decided to go with cheaper tickets to help those hit by COVID and had hit movies including Aliens, Lion King, The Greatest Showman, Jurassic Park and the Twilight series, all of which were well received.

"Next week we have the original Star Wars trilogy which will be amazing, because for many people it would have been their first cinema experience back when it was first released.

While nostalgic movies have got people back in cinema seats, it has been the emergence of high quality Australian films which have perhaps benefitted most due to the lack of big blockbusters.

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Movies such as Rams, Never Too Late and High Ground have all been popular with audiences, while Mark said that Eric Bana's latest hit The Dry, had been an absolute hit with the crowds.

"It has been our number one movie behind kids-flick, The Croods 2," he said.

"It is such a relevant movie for people at this time, and the Australian releases have all been well timed over the summer holidays.

"The Dry has earnt $13 million to date nationally and is still showing, while Penguin Bloom took $2.5 million in it's opening week which is fantastic."

Mark said that the return of people to the cinema, along with the upcoming releases of long-awaited movies, shows confidence is returning to the industry.

"It's not only about people feeling safe to be going back out and about again, it's about the industry as a whole," he said.

"We have some amazing Australian stories being told on our screen but we also have some big movies being made here including Thor: Love and Thunder, which is a massive positive for Australian cinema and Australia in general."