National Cinema Day, put together by the Cinema Foundation, will take place on Saturday, September 3. The Cinema Foundation is a non-profit branch of the National Association of Theatre Owners. The day will consist of $3 movie tickets across 3,000 theatres all throughout the U.S. That equates to approximately 30,000 movie screens. To put that number in perspective throughout the whole country there are about 40,700 movie screens. Major chains including AMC and Regal Cinemas will be participating.
When COVID-19 hit in 2020, movie theaters were greatly affected by it. The year 2020 caused a 40 year low in the business.
This summer marked a record-breaking return to the cinemas. Movies like “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Minions: Rise of Gru,” “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” and “Jurassic World Dominion” were all successes that helped reached $3.3 billion in ticket sales.
That only trails 2019 total sales by 20%. The President of the Cinema Foundation, Jackie Brenneman, said this is a way to “Thank” all the moviegoers that made this summer such a success. She also stated this is a way to encourage those who still haven’t made their return to the movies.
Labor Day Weekend is this upcoming week and this usually results in the slowest weekend in theaters. If National Cinema Day is successful, moviegoers could flood the cinema on Saturday. They also hope to prompt them to return to the movie theaters in the fall.
Written by Gabriel Salgado
Edited by Sheena Robertson
Sources:
WIS News: National Cinema Day is bringing $3 tickets for one day in Sept.
Variety: U.S. Theaters Will Sell $3 Tickets for National Cinema Day Event, Set for Sept. 3
Variety: How Movie Theaters Fought to Survive (Another) Year of Turbulence and Change From shorter theatrical windows to simultaneous streaming releases, in 2021 the cinema business was challenged like never before.
CNBC: ‘National Cinema Day’ to offer $3 movie tickets for one day
Top and Featured Image Courtesy of Eelke’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Blondinrikard Fröberg’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
