Select theatres in Canada charging only $3 for movie tickets this Saturday

People arrive for movies at Landmark Cinema in Kingston, Ont., July. 16, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars Hagberg

Theatres across Canada will sell movie tickets for only $3 this Saturday as cinemas look to rebound from more than two years of pandemic-related shutdowns.

Tickets for all movies, in any format, will be sold at the discounted rate, plus taxes, at select theatres in Canada and the United States for National Cinema Day.

A news release Wednesday from the Movie Theatre Association of Canada and The Cinema Foundation, the non-profit arm of the U.S. National Association of Theater Owners, says the one-day event will take place at more than 3,000 locations, with more than 30,000 screens.

Participating theatres include Cineplex, Cinemas Guzzo, Cinemas Cine Entreprise, Imagine Cinemas, Landmark and Magic Lantern Theatres, along with a number of independent theatres, the organizations say.

"Moviegoing is back and it is great to see our industry coming together and rallying behind National Cinema Day," Movie Theatre Association of Canada executive director Nuria Bronfman said in a statement.

"Nothing matches watching movies together with friends and family at a theatre. We are excited to join our colleagues in the U.S. in thanking movie lovers across the country for their support and celebrating great movies and the thrill of the big screen experience."

The announcement comes as theatres in Canada and the U.S. recover from public-health restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Labour Day weekend is traditionally slow for theatres, which have seen a significant rebound this summer, even with fewer releases overall, as major blockbusters such as "Top Gun: Maverick," "Minions: Rise of Gru," "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" and "Jurassic World Dominion" helped with box office sales.

However, ticket sales this summer are about 20 per cent lower compared to the pre-pandemic summer of 2019.

"After this summer's record-breaking return to cinemas, we wanted to do something to celebrate moviegoing," The Cinema Foundation president Jackie Brenneman said. "We're doing it by offering a 'thank you' to the moviegoers that made this summer happen, and by offering an extra enticement for those who haven't made it back yet."

As of Wednesday, participating independent theatres in Canada include:

British Columbia

Alberta

Manitoba

Saskatchewan

Ontario

Quebec

New Brunswick

Newfoundland

With files from The Associated Press