If you love movies but hate paying for them, we’ve got you covered with several ways to get really cheap or free movie tickets. Sure, there are plenty of ways to watch movies for free at home with streaming services, but sometimes you just want to be in the theater with the popcorn — the whole nine yards. So how can you see movies for free (or at least almost free)?
From the ticket itself to the popcorn to seeing movies in 3-D, things can add up quickly (especially when you bring along kids). But we’ve got lots of tips to help you cut down on your costs, and even ways to get free movie tickets, including free movie offers if you're an Amazon Prime member. We’ll tackle using discounted gift cards, theater loyalty programs, movie subscriptions, and more.
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Offers, prices, and local participation may vary.
What's on this page:
Free Screenings With Amazon Prime Premiere and Gofobo
Discounted Tickets From Costco
Pay With Discounted Gift Cards
Watch $5 Mystery Movies
See Movies at Specific Times or on Specific Days
Military, Student, and Senior Discounts
Join a Free Theater Rewards Program
Sign Up for a Subscription
Join Fandango FanRewards
BOGO Tickets at Atom Tickets
Other Ways to Score Discount Movie Tickets
Get free advance screenings with Amazon Prime Premiere and Gofobo.
Amazon Prime Premiere Free Advance Screenings
Amazon Prime members can get free movie tickets to see new Amazon original content (movies and TV series) in select cities for one night only before their Prime release date. All you have to do is visit PrimePremiere.Amazon one week before the screening and reserve your ticket.
You can reserve two free movie tickets per Prime account. Plus, you and your guest will get a free small popcorn and a small soda or water.
Tickets are on a first-come, first-serve basis, so reserve your tickets as soon as they become available at PrimePremiere.Amazon. Prime members also get exclusive access to photo ops and special giveaways.
Gofobo Free Advance Screenings
Movie studios love to generate buzz before movies officially release, and the way they do that is by offering advance screenings. Look for free upcoming movie screenings through Gofobo.
Screenings aren’t available in every city, but they're worth looking into. Here are Gofobo's upcoming screenings:
Thunderbolts
Big Mouth
Save up to 20% with discounted tickets from Costco.
Costco Discount Movie Ticket Deals
Costco almost always has deals on movie theater gift cards. You can grab discount movie tickets with either a $65 Gold Star or $130 Executive membership.
These gift cards are good for tickets and concessions and can also be used on discount movie days.
Note: AMC no longer directly sells black or yellow tickets (which you can use across multiple AMC locations). However, they never expire, so you can still buy them at places like Costco and use them.
Black tickets: Good at any AMC location in the U.S.
Yellow tickets: Good at any AMC location in the U.S., except CA, NY, and NJ.
Pay with discounted movie gift cards.
Buy discounted gift cards from sites like GCX (formerly Raise) and Giftory to save 10% or more. Watch for deeper discounts around the holidays and during big sales like Amazon Prime Day.
Watch $5 Mystery Movies.
AMC Screen Unseen
With AMC Screen Unseen, moviegoers can watch a mystery movie for $5 (plus tax) at select theaters.
AMC will announce the movie rating but not the title until showtime. After the movie, they'll ask you to share your thoughts with #AMCScreenUnseen on Instagram for a chance to win a prize pack. You can order advance tickets online or in the AMC app.
May 5, rated R
Regal Mystery Movie
Regal Mystery Movie Monday is a promotion at select Regal theaters that lets you watch a movie for $5 before it premieres. You can buy up to 10 tickets.
May 5, rated R
Cinemark Secret Movie Series
Cinemark Secret Movie Series offers moviegoers a chance to watch an unknown movie for $5 before its debut on the big screen
Marcus Theatres Mystery Movie
Marcus Theater Mystery Movie is your chance to see a movie before it premieres at Marcus Theatres. Each Monday you can watch a movie for $5, but you won't know what it is ahead of time.
April 28, rated R
Save up to 50% by going at certain times or on specific days, like Discount Tuesdays.
Plenty of theater chains — including AMC, Regal, and Cinemark — try to entice people to see movies midweek by offering $5 or $5.50 movies days like Discount Tuesdays.
AMC, Regal, and Cinemark require you to be part of their free loyalty programs to get cheap tickets. Check with your local theater and skip the weekend rush to save 50% on movie tickets.
Watching matinees (typically movies shown before 2 p.m. or 3 p.m.) can also save you up to 30% on regular ticket prices.
Save on movie tickets with military, student, or senior discounts.
If you're a military member, student, or senior, look for information about specialty discounts on a theater's website. Specialty discounts can save you up to 51%. Whether your local theater offers specialty discounts depends on several factors, such as location, movie, and day of the week.
When buying your tickets at the ticket booth, be prepared to show valid ID. Here's a look at specialty discounts offered by AMC, Regal, Cinemark, Showcase, and Marcus theaters.
AMC Theaters: $11.99 reg. price / $10.49 senior price
Regal Cinemas: $10.99 reg. price / $9.49 senior price
Cinemark Theatres: $11.25 reg. price / $8.25 senior price
Showcase Cinemas: $14.25 reg. price / $7.75 senior price (Wednesdays)
Marcus Theatres: $13.29 reg. price / $8.50 military price / $7.50 student and school faculty price (Thursdays) / $10.85 senior price
Note that we checked prices in Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Ohio.
Join a free theater rewards program for movie discounts.
If you're looking to save on movie tickets and get other perks and freebies, sign up for a free rewards program. Here's a quick look at some of the benefits when you join the nation's three biggest theater programs:
AMC Insider
The AMC Stubs Insider program gives you 20 points for every $1 you spend, and after 5,000 points you get a $5 reward that you can use on tickets. Members also enjoy a free large popcorn for their birthday and no ticketing fees when they buy at least four tickets online. Plus, members get access to $5 Ticket Tuesdays.
Regal Crown Club
At Regal, Crown Club members earn 100 points for every $1 spent, which adds up to free movies and concessions. You’ll get 1,000 points just for signing up and confirming your email. Same as AMC — you can use your rewards on movie tickets.
Plus, you can also earn extra points when you visit and buy a ticket at your local Regal theater a number of times per year.
6+ visits/tickets, receive 260 bonus points
10+ visit/tickets, receive 500 bonus points
20+ visits/tickets, receive 1,000 bonus points
Cinemark Movie Rewards
In addition to discount Tuesday savings, Cinemark Movie Rewards members can redeem points (earn one point for every $1 spent) for movie tickets and get access to screenings.
Sign up for a movie theater subscription if you’re a frequent moviegoer.
Remember when MoviePass was the only game in town? Now there are plenty of movie theater subscriptions available — including a relaunched MoviePass service.
If you’re someone who wants to pay one monthly fee and then get the equivalent of tons of free movies, you’ll want to know all about how we compare the top seven movie theater subscription programs. If you see a lot of movies, this can be a solid way to save a ton of money.
Rewards Program | Monthly Price | Free Movies Per Month |
|---|---|---|
$19.95 - $24.99 | 12 (3 per week) | |
$10.99 | 1 | |
$10 - $30 | 1 - 5 | |
$21.49 | unlimited |
Join Fandango FanRewards to get discount movie tickets, plus other perks.
Fandango’s free loyalty program offers a bunch of perks, but every time you see four movies, you get a $5 credit, which you can use for movie tickets, digital rentals, or other purchases.
Fandango FanRewards works with theaters’ rewards programs. So make sure to sign up for those to earn double the reward points (points at Fandango and points at the theater).
KCL TIP: Fandango has an entire special offers page where they give free and discounted movie tickets to people who complete certain tasks or buy certain items. For example, moviegoers could get a free ticket worth up to $10 to see Despicable Me 4 when they spent $25 or more on select products in one transaction at Kroger. It’s worth bookmarking this site as these deals rotate throughout the year.
Grab BOGO movie tickets at Atom Tickets.
Atom Tickets is an online ticketing service that lets you buy movie tickets, preorder concessions, and skip lines when you order through their app or on AtomTickets.com. Keep an eye out for Atom Ticket promos like a $5 ticket for a select movie or BOGO ticket deals.
Other Ways to Score Discount Movie Tickets
Watch family-friendly movies for under $3 or free during the summer.
Theaters like AMC, Regal, Cinemark, and others offer cheap tickets — we're talking $3 or less (per person) — to see hit movies like Despicable Me 3, Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie, Minions: The Rise of Gru, and more during the summer season. To find out where and when you can take the kiddos to see one of these family-friendly flicks, check out our cheap summer movies list (complete with prices, dates, and showtimes).
Possibly get free movie tickets from Applebee’s.
Yep, over the last few years we've seen Applebee’s give away free movie tickets. In May 2022, it was tickets to see Top Gun: Maverick. In June 2023, for the newly released movie Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, all you had to do to get yourself a free ticket was spend $35 - $69.99 in a single transaction at your local Applebee’s. If you spent over $70, you could get two movie tickets.
Although Applebee's didn't offer any movie ticket deals in 2024, as soon as we hear of a new movie ticket promotion, we'll share it here.
Look out for product partnerships to get free movie vouchers.
We’ve seen Target offer a free $7 Atom Tickets movie voucher when you bought select movies on DVD or Blu-ray. And we’ve seen General Mills offer Fandango credit on purchases of cereals, Yoplait, and Ziploc. Keep an eye out for movie promotions in the grocery aisle.
Second-run movie theaters can offer big savings.
Sure, it’s hard to avoid social media when everyone’s talking about the plot of the latest Avengers. But if you can handle the wait, second-run movie theaters offer much cheaper ticket prices. We're talking $1 - $5, depending on your area.
For a family of five, you’d save more than $40 on average per cinema trip by waiting a month or so to see that new movie.
KCL TIP: When you work at a movie theater, you can watch movies for free. Employees at AMC, Regal, and most corporate theater chains get to see free movies. That’s a benefit very few employers offer.
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