$4 movie theater tickets, this Sunday only, as part of National Cinema Day 2023

Whatever you had planned for this Sunday, it’s time to reschedule. This Sunday, August 27, has been announced as the latest National Cinema Day, bringing with it a wave of discounted admissions to participating theaters across the U.S. to help fans celebrate the wonder of the silver screen.

With more than 3000 theaters participating — a full list can be found at the official National Cinema Day website — the one-day event is intended to promote theater attendance with $4 tickets for new and current releases, as well as some classic re-releases, including Jurassic Park, American Graffiti, and Oldboy.

“Movies have the power to bring us together to share in the joy, the thrill and the magic of a great story told on the big screen,” President & CEO of the National Association of Theatre Owners, Michael O’Leary, said in a statement about the event.  “National Cinema Day is a celebration of movie fandom and of the uniting role that movie theaters play in our communities.” 

“We are thrilled to support the second annual National Cinema Day in partnership with The Cinema Foundation and help drive more movie fans into theaters this summer,” added Jerramy Hainline, Senior Vice President, Fandango Ticketing, which is one of the sponsors of the event. “With consumer appetite for top-notch entertainment at a high, and a blockbuster slate of summer movies still in theaters, National Cinema Day allows movie lovers across the country a chance to see one or several titles at a great price.”

The event comes at a time when theater owners have been concerned over the longterm impact of the current WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, with some analysts believing that the simultaneous lack of celebrity promotion for upcoming releases and rescheduling of release calendars for 2024 and beyond could ultimately hurt theater attendance. While it’s unclear whether or not that will end up happening, it’s definitely fair to say that $4 tickets are certainly a good way of trying to tempt customers back into the theater to avoid that fate… although, given the heat in many areas of the country, just advertising a good AC system might have the same result.

There’s another way to get people to go to the cinema: just release a James Cameron movie.