National Cinema Day: Where you can see $4 movies in Minnesota

(FOX 9) – This Sunday, theaters across the country will celebrate a holiday that will allow you to score some cheap tickets for showings.

Thousands of theaters are set to participate in National Cinema Day on Sunday, Aug. 27. Tickets at those locations will be $4 for showings, with some limitations depending on theater.

This is the second year of National Cinema Day, an event intended to bring people back to the theaters. Last year, the event on September 3 drew 8.1 million people to the movies. This year, 3,000 theaters are expected to take part once again.

Who’s taking part?

Many theater chains are taking part, including AMC, CEC Theatres, Mann Theaters, Marcus Theaters, Alamo Drafthouse, and Emagine locations.

AMC, CEC, and Emagine say $4 tickets will also include premium screens, like IMAX and Dolby Cinema, along with 3D films. AMC and Marcus theaters will also offer food and drink discounts.

B&B Theatres, which has a single location in Minnesota at the Mall of America, will also take part in the holiday and offer half-off popcorn.

CMX Cinemas, with locations in Burnsville and Rochester, will offer a double deal: For every $10 spent on fond on Sunday, moviegoers will get a free ticket for a future movie.

Twin Cities metro

• Alamo Drafthouse Woodbury
• AMC Coon Rapids
• AMC Eden Prairie
• AMC Inver Grove
• AMC Mounds View
• AMC Rosedale
• AMC Southdale (Edina, MN)
• B&B Mall of America (Bloomington)
• CEC Andover
• CMX Odyssey (Burnsville)
• Emagine Delano
• Emagine Eagan
• Emagine East Bethel
• Emagine Lakeville
• Emagine Monticello
• Emagine Rogers
• Emagine Waconia
• Emagine White Bear
• Emagine Willow Creek (Plymouth, MN)
• Mann Champlin
• Mann Edina
• Mann Grandview (St. Paul)
• Mann Highland (St. Paul)
• Mann Plymouth Grand
• Marcus Oakdale Cinema
• Marcus Rosemount
• Marcus Southbridge Crossing (Shakopee, MN)

Northern/Central MN

• CEC Alexandria
• CEC Bemidji
• CEC Fergus Falls
• CEC Mountain Iron
• Mann Grand Rapids
• Mann Hibbing
• Mann Lakes (Baxter, MN)
• Marcus Duluth Cinema
• Marcus Lakes Cinema (Hermantown, MN)
• Marcus Parkwood Cinema (Waite Park, MN)

Southern MN

• AMC Mankato
• CEC Albert Lea
• CEC Marshall
• CEC Owatonna
• CEC Winona
• CMX Chateau (Rochester, MN)
• Marcus Rochester Cinema

Western Wisconsin

• CEC Hudson
• CEC Lake (Rice Lake, Wis.)
• CEC Menomonie

The movie business

In 2023, the post-pandemic rebound of the theater industry is continuing on the backs of films like Barbie, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 — all of which surpassed the $350M mark in the United States.

The total domestic box office earnings so far this year sits at $6.4 billion and experts project that total to approach $10 billion by the end of 2023. If that happens, it would be a more than $2 billion boost from 2022 and closer to pre-pandemic numbers, but still more than 10 percent off 2019.

But those figures have come at a cost, literally. Raw ticket sales are lagging even further behind box office totals, meaning ticket prices have jumped since the pandemic.

On average, the Cinema Foundation, which is behind National Cinema Day, estimates the average ticket price in the United States at $10.53, $1.37 more than in 2019. At larger chains and “premium” showings like IMAX and Dolby, the price tag is even higher.