Last summer, months after the pandemic shut down movie theaters and all other sorts of live entertainment across the city, a Queens diner started hosting drive-in movies in their parking lot. The idea caught on, and inspired other organizations to host their own drive-in movie nights— one of the most popular was the Queens Drive-In located at Flushing Meadows Corona Park, which ran throughout the fall. Starting this weekend, it will return through June 2021.
"The Queens Drive-in film screenings brought much needed respite for families amid this pandemic," said Queens city council member Francisco Moya. "I am proud to continue to support this initiative as we go into the spring and a new sense of normalcy with one of our favorite forms of entertainment."
The Queens Drive-In is a collaboration between Rooftop Films, the Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI), and the New York Hall of Science (NYSCI), and is located on the grounds of the New York Hall of Science in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. There will be similar safety precautions as in the fall: you buy tickets beforehand, you have to stay inside your car while watching the film (although concessions and bathrooms are available onsite), and you have to wear your mask any time you exit your vehicle.
Organizers noted that they are "in conversation with the City and State agencies to determine whether in the future it will be safe and legal to adapt the event spaces to accommodate socially distanced walk-up attendees."
But what about the movies? The lineup is pretty set through March and most of April, kicking things off on Friday with an already-sold out screening of Coming 2 America. There is a mix of classics and cult classics (The Shining, Muppets Take Manhattan, Dune, Labyrinth, The Big Lebowski), and best of all, a bunch of well-curated double features with clever themes.
We get a pair of urban dystopias with Escape from New York and Robocop; the landmark adolescent tales of Dazed and Confused and Fast Times at Ridgemont High; the groundbreaking duo of Shaft and Boyz n the Hood; classic '50s/'60s action and spy capers North by Northwest and From Russia with Love; boxing classics Rocky and Creed; beloved stories of female independence Desperately Seeking Susan and Thelma and Louise; and the most inspired pairing of them all: Singin’ in the Rain and Magic Mike XXL.
You can check out the full film lineup here. All tickets for single movies cost $35 per vehicle; tickets for double features cost $45. Cars can have up to five people inside.
This isn't the only drive-in coming back in the spring: "Broadway At The Drive-In" at Radial Park on the Astoria waterfront returns with live performances alongside showings of The Blues Brothers, starting Thursday, May 27th. Last fall, they had hybrid live performances/outdoor movie showings of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera and Prince's classic Purple Rain, with live bands and singers for multiple nights. You can get more info about tickets and safety precautions here.
Both the Bel Aire Diner in Astoria and the Skyline Drive-In in Greenpoint have continued hosting drive-in movie screenings at points in the winter, and will continue having showings into the spring. Check out more about the Bel Aire lineup here, and Skyline here.
And if you're the sort of freak who absolutely refuses to watch movies from inside a motor vehicle, then you're in luck, because starting this Friday, movie theaters in NYC can reopen at 25% capacity. Because we're still in a pandemic, not all cinemas will be reopening immediately—you can check out which chains/theaters will be opening soon here.
