National Cinema Weekend hits Irish cinemas

This weekend will mark the official nationwide National Cinema Weekend, an event where participating cinemas throughout the county will make tickets available for prices as low as €4. Cinema audiences across Laois, including those attending the county’s largest theatres, the Odeon in Portlaoise, will also be able to avail of these reduced tickets.

All Irish cinemas participating in the initiative will offer admission prices starting from just €4 (RSP) throughout the weekend; the initiative is supported by Fís Éireann / Screen Ireland and has been running in Ireland since 2022, initially starting as a measure to boost cinema attendance in the wake of the Covid pandemic. Previous National Cinema Days recorded over 200,000 admissions to Ireland in a single day, proving that the measure was effective in significantly boosting audience attendance.

Approximately 99% of cinemas in the Republic of Ireland will participate in this initiative, offering a wide variety of new and recent releases for audiences to enjoy, including family favourites that all the family can enjoy – especially now that schools are just reopening.

Cinemas in every county in the Republic of Ireland are participating, meaning easy access for audiences to big screen entertainment in their home county across the weekend. Cinemagoers across National Cinema Weekend will also be able to benefit from additional screenings catering to diverse audiences including sensory screenings along with additional subtitled and captioned screenings at various cinemas.

Notably, the Republic of Ireland has the highest screen density per capita of any country in Europe, with an average of one cinema screen per 10,000 people which Screen Ireland argues serves as a sterling example of the Irish publics’ love of the cinema.

Alex Murphy and Chris Walley, stars of The Young Offenders (which will celebrate its ten year anniversary with a re-release of the film on National Cinema Weekend) said:

 "We think there’s nothing like the magic of going to the movies. The shared communal experience of enjoying films as they were meant to be seen – on the big screen with a captive audience, is one of our favourite things to do. We’re really looking forward to celebrating National Cinema Weekend this year by catching as many films as we can, and re-watching some of the great movies we've already enjoyed at the cinema this year."

Discussing the National Cinema Weekend initiative, Désirée Finnegan, Chief Executive of Fís Éireann / Screen Ireland said:

"Screen Ireland is proud to support National Cinema Weekend, which is set to be a fantastic celebration of cinema, in recognition of Irish audiences and their continued support for Irish film on the big screen. With such a wide range of films available to choose from as part of the initiative, we hope audiences across the country can find new Irish stories to connect with this year."

New and recent releases will screen across the weekend including The Incomer starring Domhnall Gleeson; special preview screenings of Bad Apples starring Saoirse Ronan; The Death of Robin Hood starring Hugh Jackman; Ridley Scott’s The Dog Stars; Insidious: Out Of The Further; Coyote vs. Acme and I Want Your Sex starring Olivia Wilde.

Some of the movies showing include Irish titles such as new music documentary Celtic Utopia and limited preview screenings of the acclaimed Everybody Digs Bill Evans, filmed in West Cork. Also screening are a number of previously released Irish titles The Quiet Girl / An Cailín Ciúin; Báite; and Gar O’Rourke’s acclaimed Ukrainian documentary Sanitorium. Popular re-releases will also screen across the weekend including The Lobster; Terminator 2: Judgment Day; Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home; animated favourite Cars and The Hunger Games saga.

Tickets can be purchased online and at the box office. Audiences are advised to check local cinema listings and can also visit www.cinemaweekend.ie as a central online location to check out what’s screening at their local cinema for National Cinema Weekend.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme