 | The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject.(December 2019) |
This is a list of drive-in theaters. A drive-in theater is a form of cinema structure consisting of a large outdoor movie screen, a projection booth, a concession stand, and a large parking area for automobiles. Within this enclosed area, customers can view films from their cars.
This list includes active and defunct drive-in theaters.
About 330 drive-in theatres were established in Australia, following the Skyline, established in 1954 in Melbourne.
The first drive-in was opened in 1933 in New Jersey. [1] As of 2017, around 330 drive-in theaters were operating in the United States, down from a peak of around 4,000 in the late 1950s. [2] At least six are listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). [NRHP] Notable U.S. examples include:
A drive-in theater or drive-in cinema is a form of cinema structure consisting of a large outdoor movie screen, a projection booth, a concession stand, and a large parking area for automobiles. Within this enclosed area, customers can view movies from the privacy and comfort of their cars. Some drive-ins have small playgrounds for children and a few picnic tables or benches.
Century Theatres is a movie theater chain that operates many multiplexes in the western United States, primarily in California, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona. In its later years, it had expanded into the inter-mountain states, the Pacific Northwest, Texas, Alaska and parts of the Midwestern United States. Founded in 1941, the chain was headquartered in San Rafael, California until it was acquired by Cinemark Theatres from Plano, Texas in 2006. Many now-Cinemark-owned theaters continue to operate under the Century brand.
Landmark Theatres is a movie theatre chain founded in 1974 in the United States. It was formerly dedicated to exhibiting and marketing independent and foreign films. Landmark consists of 34 theatres with 176 screens in 24 markets. It is known for both its historic and newer, more modern theatres. Helmed by its President Kevin Holloway, Landmark Theatres is part of Cohen Media Group.
The Ziegfeld Theatre was a single-screen movie theater located at 141 West 54th Street in midtown Manhattan in New York City. It opened in 1969 and closed in 2016. The theater was named in honor of the original Ziegfeld Theatre (1927–1966), which was built by the impresario Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.
Boller Brothers, often written Boller Bros., was an architectural firm based in Kansas City, Missouri which specialized in theater design in the Midwestern United States during the first half of the 20th century. Carl Heinrich Boller (1868–1946) and Robert Otto Boller (1887–1962) are credited with the design of almost 100 classic theaters ranging from small vaudeville venues to grand movie palaces.
The Silvermoon Drive-In is a drive-in theatre in Lakeland, Florida. Established in 1948, it is the last remaining drive-in of Polk County, Florida.
The Midway Drive-In located in Sterling, Illinois is one of 12 drive-in theaters in Illinois.
The Wellfleet Drive-In Theater, the only drive-in theater on Cape Cod, located in Wellfleet, Massachusetts along U.S. Route 6, near the Massachusetts Audubon Society's Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. The complex offers first-run double features in season, with other attractions such as indoor cinemas, a flea market, a miniature golf course, and restaurants.
The Midway Drive-In Theater was built in 1955 between Turkey and Quitaque, Texas, on Highway 86 when over 300 drive-ins were operating in Texas.
The Boulevard Drive-In Theater is a closed drive-in theater, located in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It was one of two drive-in theaters in Allentown; the second one was Cinema Treasures.
Cumberland Drive-In Theatre is an outdoors movie theater located in Newville, Pennsylvania. It is capable of hosting 400 vehicles and has a 45 by 96 foot movie screen. As of August 2013, it has been operated by the same family for over 60 years.
The Moonlite Theatre, also known as the Moonlite Drive-In, is a historic drive-in theater located near Abingdon, Washington County, Virginia. It was built and opened in 1949, and remained one of the few drive-ins still open in Virginia until finally closing in 2013. The theater reopened briefly in 2016 but closed shortly after due to a pending lawsuit. Remaining original buildings and structures include the 65-foot-tall screen tower and office wing, the ticket booth, the concession stand/projector booth building, and the neon-illuminated attraction board at the edge of the highway. The theatre includes 454 parking/viewing spaces designed as reverse-incline ramps.
Moreland Theater is a single-screen movie theater located in the Sellwood neighborhood of Portland, Oregon in the United States.
The Oregon Theatre, or Oregon Theater, was an adult movie theater in the Richmond neighborhood of southeast Portland, Oregon, United States. The theater was completed in 1925 and originally housed a Wurlitzer pipe organ and vaudeville stage. It would later screen Hollywood, art-house, and Spanish-language films. The building was acquired by the Maizels family in 1967 and became an adult cinema in the 1970s. It continued to operate as the city's longest running pornographic cinema and remained owned by a member of the Maizels family until 13 February 2020, when it went into foreclosure. It closed in early March 2020.
Paris Theatre, formerly Third Avenue Theatre and also known as Paris Theater or Ray's Paris Theatre, is an historic building in Portland, Oregon's Old Town Chinatown neighborhood, in the United States. The theatre was constructed in 1890 and opened as a burlesque house. It was later converted to a cinema, then a club and music venue, before serving as an adult movie theater until 2016. The building was a live venue and nightclub until it closed in October 2019.
Greenbelt Cinema is a historic two-screen cinema built between 1937 and 1938 in Roosevelt Center within the Greenbelt Historic District of Greenbelt, Maryland. It was built in the Art Deco style of architecture - or more specifically, the Streamline Moderne variant that Art Deco had largely evolved into in the 1930s. The theater opened to the public on September 21, 1938, with the first film shown at the theater Little Miss Broadway starring Shirley Temple.
Bengies Drive-In is a drive-in theater in Middle River, Maryland, a suburb of Baltimore, with the largest movie screen remaining in the United States.
Shankweiler's Drive-In Theatre is a single-screen drive-in movie theater located off of Route 309 in Orefield, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the oldest operational drive-in theater in the world It generally operates during weekends in the colder months, while playing films seven days per week during the summer season. Admission gives patrons access to both nightly movie showings.
The first drive in theater to be opened in the state of Illinois is the Midway Drive In And Diner located in Sterling, Illinois, in 1950. The Midway is home to the oldest drive-in theater screen in Illinois, making it an official historical landmark.
Media related to Drive-in theaters at Wikimedia Commons
