Here's what you need to know about National Cinema Day

As America gears up for the Labor Day holiday in a couple of weeks, the domestic movie theaters are preparing for a little celebration of their own: National Cinema Day, which launched last year as part of an industry effort to rebuild momentum after the long, dark days of the COVID-19 lockdowns.

As with the 2022 edition, the basic premise of National Cinema Day 2023 is pretty simple: All day on Sunday, August 27, participating movie theaters will be offering tickets on all their movies at an extremely steep discount—just $4 per ticket. (Of course, that’s a buck more than last year’s $3 tickets, but so it goes.)

The hope, obviously, is to get everybody in that double-feature, Barbenheimer mood—or at least just to lure a couple of holdouts back into the air-conditioned arms of Mother Theater at last. All of the major chains are participating, including Regal, AMC, and Cinemark, as well as a bunch of smaller or more local theater groups like Alamo Drafthouse.

As for what to watch with those cheap-o tickets, well, sky’s the limit: Last week’s box office champ Blue Beetle will be hoping to have a strong sophomore weekend, while it’s likely that both Barbie and Oppenheimer will catch a second win. Meanwhile, Gran Turismo and Bottoms both open this weekend. And if you want something of an older vintage, the original Jurassic Park is back in theaters this weekend, alongside a singalong version of the live-action Little Mermaid—and, of course, a return visit from The Super Mario Bros. Movie, clearly hoping to reclaim its crown as the top domestic box office performer of 2023 by finally going head to head with Greta Gerwig’s neon-pink opus.

You can see a full list of theaters participating in National Cinema Day here.