National Cinema Day Is Back! Where to Buy $4 Tickets to ‘Barbie,’ ‘Oppenheimer’ & Other Must-Watch Movies

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

Movie tickets just got cheaper — at least for a day. If you haven’t seen Barbie, Oppenheimer and more of the year’s biggest films on the big screen, you can watch them for just $4 during National Cinema Day.

The annual event, launched last year by the Cinema Foundation, returns on Sunday (Aug. 27). For one day only, moviegoers will get the opportunity to watch or rewatch movies in theaters for one low ticket price.

National Cinema Day 2023 celebrates “the power of movies to bring us all together,” the organization said in a statement, per USA Today. More than 3,000 theaters will be participating in National Cinema Day, including AMC, Regal and Cinemark.  

How to Buy National Cinema Day Tickets Online for $4

You don’t have to wait until the weekend to buy your tickets for National Cinema Day. Purchase advance tickets online through Fandango, in addition to AMC Theaters, Cinepolis, Regal Cinemas, Cinemark and other movie theaters.

Most of the websites of the participating theaters put up “National Cinema Day” banners on the homepage, but you might have to enter the information in manually, depending on the website or app.

To get started, select the film of your choosing and set the date to Aug. 27. Changing the date should automatically drop the ticket price to $4. The discount applies to matinee and regular-priced tickets.

Be sure to check with the movie theater or ticket website if you’re not sure how many $4 tickets you can purchase at once. Fandango, for example, allows you to purchase up to nine tickets at a time.

In addition to $4 movie tickets, AMC and other participating theaters will be offering National Cinema Day deals on drinks, popcorn and candy.

With Barbie and Oppenheimer ruling the box office, the one-day ticket haul could add a significant boost to what has already been a historic box-office run for both films, and a ticket spike for some of the other big-budget movies that didn’t perform as well, such as Blue Beetle, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part I.

“Following the rousing success of the first annual National Cinema Day, we welcome everyone to join us for the communal experience of one of America’s favorite past times,” Jackie Brenneman, president of The Cinema Foundation told Deadline.   

Which new movies are debuting this weekend? Some of the new releases include Bottoms, Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story, The Hill, Golda and Retribution. The Little Mermaid will also be returning to theaters as a sing-along film for National Cinema Day.

Other movies currently in theaters: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Meg 2, Elemental, Theater Camp, Strays, Spider-Man: Accross the Spiderverse and The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

If you’re unable to make it out to theaters for National Cinema Day, most of the films featured are available to stream on-demand. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse, The Little Mermaid, Super Mario Bros., Elemental and more are available to rent on Prime Video (Super Mario Bros. is also streaming for free on Peacock) and other digital platforms. Barbie will arrive on digital platforms on Sept. 5.