There are now other ways to blow off steam in the financial district after a long day of work. If you’re tired of stretching the limits of your liver every weeknight, try stopping by Robinson Road instead. Occupying the ninth level of Capital Tower is the newly opened Salt Media@Capital Tower—Singapore’s first cinema in the central business district.

Operated by Salt Media & Entertainment in collaboration with CapitaLand, the shiny new cinema seats 228 in a circular setup. Movies are projected via a high-resolution 4K laser projector and with a Dolby Surround 7.1 sound system.

But it’s no ordinary cinema vying for a slice of the mainstream pie, currently dominated by Cathay Cineplexes, Golden Village and Shaw Theatres. With a strict programming focus, Big Picture will only screen inspirational movies from around the world, particularly flicks with positive values and themes of hope, courage and family. The theatre kicked open its doors on Jan 15 with a premiere screening of Storm Boy—a 2019 Australian drama that follows a young boy who rescues three pelicans along the Southern Australia coastline. Based on a novella by Colin Thiele, the film starring Geoffrey Rush and Jai Courtney is the second one made off the book, after a 1976 rendition.

Serving as co-producers for Storm Boy, Salt Media & Entertainment will also be co-producing two other movies slated for release in the cinema this year. There’s Stano, an underdog story about a baseball star fighting for a second chance after prison, which stars celebrity couple Joe Manganiello and Sofia Vergara; and The Very Excellent Mr Dundee starring Crocodile Dundee’s Paul Hogan as himself. Tickets for all movies are $12 on weekdays and $16 on weekends, and are only sold online. 

Granted, the cinema does look a little like a school lecture theatre at first glance; but then again, we can’t be the only ones who’ve ever thought that LTs would make great cinemas, right? While the space will be used as a movie theatre at night and on weekends, its main bread and butter will likely come from functioning as an auditorium for corporate events and seminars in the day.

The CBD has been seeing a slow but encouraging rise in arts-related openings in the last year—art gallery Hatch Art Project that opened in June 2018, for example, is the first gallery in the district. Maybe soon we can look forward to a little more cultural vibrancy in the area; and a few less lifeless zombies.

Salt Media@Capital Tower is located at Level 9, 168 Robinson Road. More information here.