Celebrate National Cinema Day with $3 theater tickets across the country

As the dog days of summer moviegoing slows to a final halt for the majority of Americans, theaters across the country are looking to get people into their red velvet seats with $3 tickets for any screening, in any format, on September 3.

Hopefully becoming an annual fixture, National Cinema Day wants to give a needed boost to theaters over the traditionally slow Labor Day weekend. And in places such as NYC, where one theater ticket can cost up to $17, it’s quite the deal for folks looking to catch a new release or a screening of a classic.

“After this summer’s record-breaking return to cinemas, we wanted to do something to celebrate moviegoing,” says Jackie Brenneman, Cinema Foundation president, in a statement. “We’re doing it by offering a ‘thank you’ to the moviegoers that made this summer happen, and by offering an extra enticement for those who haven’t made it back yet.”

The box office made great strides this year as people continue to make their way back to theaters following the pandemic. Major wins of this year include Top Gun: Maverick and Minions: The Rise Of Gru, with the domestic box office raking in a total of $3.3 billion in ticket sales. These numbers trail 2019's sales by 20 percent but are a whopping 161 percent higher than last year’s earnings by this time.

Over 3,000 theaters will show flicks across 30,0000 with major chains such as AMC, Cinemark, and Regal Cinemas participating. Some theaters will host special screenings of older and arthouse films on September 3, but the major theaters offer the chance to see new releases such as Sterling K. Brown and Regina Hall’s Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul, George Miller’s Three Thousand Years Of Longing, the Brad Pitt vehicle Bullet Train, and more.

You can find participating theaters and showtimes in your area here.