Ever wanted to experience the blockbuster hit “Jaws” in theaters? Didn’t get to watch “Spider-Man: No Way Home” the first time it came out? Now’s your chance to not only watch these movies but also any film currently in cinemas for $3.
Rio Grande Valley residents can start the three-day weekend right by celebrating National Cinema Day at a local theater Saturday. Movie theaters across the Valley are cutting down ticket prices to $3 for “EVERY MOVIE. EVERY FORMAT. EVERY SHOWTIME,” according to Cinemark.
For 57-year-old Elizabeth Carranza of Edinburg, who purchased her $3 tickets at the Hollywood USA theater in McAllen on Friday, this observation is allowing her to return to the movies for the first time in about four years.
Her movie of choice? She is excited to finally see “Sagrado Corrazón” after waiting two weeks to see it.
“It’s been a while that I haven’t gone and I was so happy. I saw it on Facebook that it was for $3 and I said you know what, I want to go see that movie that I’ve been wanting to see. So I think it was awesome,” Carranza said, adding that she was even more excited when she found out that snacks will also be sold for $3.
For Carranza, the movie theater is more than just a place to watch new films but somewhere that holds her most precious memories. She recalled meeting her husband for the first time at a movie theater, a place that continued to be significant throughout their marriage.
“That was our date night. Go eat and then go to the movies,” explained Carranza, adding that whatever day of the week movie night landed on, that was date night for the couple.
Saturday holds even more significance for Carranza considering that in addition to the pandemic, going to the movie theater became difficult after her husband died in 2014. She finally went back in 2018, and then COVID-19 happened in 2020.
In a way, she is going to the movie theater for the first time again.
“It’s going to bring back memories once I go in, I’m going to be thinking of him,” Carranza said softly.
Andres Gutierrez, who works the ticket booth at Hollywood Theater in McAllen, will likely see Carranza Saturday and others who are making similar plans. For Gutierrez, a $3 movie day means more foot traffic. In fact, he already saw signs of this as of Friday morning.
“I’m hoping that they’ll mostly buy their tickets online or buy their tickets today, so tomorrow I get to just stand here and everybody just passes by me,” he said jokingly, adding that as of Friday morning he had already seen around 30 people buying tickets for Saturday. “Tomorrow I expect to sell out on a couple movies.”
