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Where Houston goes to watch

Big screens, old screens, screens on a roof. The theaters actually worth the drive in this city, checked for 2026.

Houston is a movie town that doesn't brag about it. Under the freeway sprawl there's a 1939 art deco house that came back from the dead, two museum-grade screening rooms still threading 35mm, a laser IMAX on the Katy Freeway and a drive-in with the skyline behind the screen. You just have to know which door to walk through.

Heads up if you've been gone a while: the Houston-area Alamo Drafthouses are all closed now, and the Showboat Drive-In out in Hockley ran its last movie in 2024. This list is what's actually showing films in 2026. Sort by mood, grab snacks, and let somebody else do the driving.

The classics: old Houston movie houses still running

Start here. One of these is the best date night in the city and the other is a building every Houstonian should stand inside once.

  • River Oaks / Montrose edge

    River Oaks Theatre

    2009 W Gray St, Houston, TX 77019

    Opened November 1939, Streamline Moderne, the neon sign everybody's mom took a photo of. It went dark in March 2021 after a lease fight with the landlord, and for a minute it looked like Houston had lost it for good. Star Cinema Grill took it over, spent a couple of years restoring it, and reopened the doors on October 3, 2024.

    Now it's three screens: one big main house of roughly 240 seats with laser projection and a custom sound system, plus two small rooms upstairs. Food and drinks come to your seat. The programming mixes new releases with repertory nights, live shadowcast Rocky Horror and the odd concert or comedy show. It's also a home base for the Houston Cinema Arts Festival every fall. Walkable to dinner on W Gray and a short hop from Montrose.

    TipBook the main auditorium, not the small rooms upstairs. The big room is the reason you came.

Indie and art house: 35mm in Houston and real cinephile rooms

If you searched "35mm Houston" you want these two. Both are run by people who care about prints, aspect ratios and the lights going all the way down.

  • Museum District

    MFAH Films (Brown Auditorium Theater and Lynn Wyatt Theater)

    1001 Bissonnet St, Houston, TX 77005

    The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston runs the most serious film program in town, year-round, mostly Friday through Sunday nights. The Brown Auditorium Theater sits in the Mies van der Rohe-designed Caroline Wiess Law Building and seats about 320. It can run 35mm, 16mm and digital. The newer Lynn Wyatt Theater in the Kinder Building opened in 2021 with 35mm and digital too.

    Expect restorations, new foreign and indie releases, artist documentaries and annual series like Latin Wave and Korean Film Nights. In fall 2026 they put Some Like It Hot and The Third Man up on 35mm. There's no concession stand, so eat first or hit the museum cafe before the show. In spring they also run Moonlight Movies outdoors on the sloped roof of the Glassell School, with headsets for sound.

    TipCheck the listing for "35mm" next to the title. Those are the nights to go.

  • Rice University

    Rice Cinema (Pitman Cinema Theatre)

    Rice Cinema dates to 1970, when John and Dominique de Menil set it up inside the old Rice Media Center as a proper cinematheque. The Media Center is gone, but the cinema came back in a new 216-seat room, the Pitman Cinema Theatre in Susan and Fayez Sarofim Hall. Select screenings started in fall 2025 and the full program came back in January 2026, with films Friday and Saturday nights.

    The booth has 16mm and 35mm projectors, a digital projector that handles silent-era frame rates and 3D, and Dolby Atmos. Programming leans documentary, international, art house and experimental, with the occasional crowd-pleaser around finals. It feels like a campus film society in the best way: smart crowd, nobody on their phone.

    TipMake it a Rice Village night. Tacos or ramen in the Village before, campus is a short walk.

  • Roams (office in the East End)

    Aurora Picture Show

    Aurora is Houston's microcinema, a nonprofit that shows experimental, artist-made and short films and doesn't stick to one room. Programs pop up at partner spaces around town. Their 2026 youth filmmaking camp premiere, for example, screened at the MFAH's Brown Auditorium.

    This is the weird-shorts-and-artist-Q&A corner of Houston film. If your idea of a good night is forty minutes of 16mm abstraction followed by an argument at a bar, follow their calendar.

    TipPrograms move around, so check the venue on each listing before you head out.

Big screen, big sound: the best IMAX in Houston

For the blockbusters that deserve a wall-sized screen.

  • Katy Freeway / Spring Branch

    Regal Edwards Houston Marq*E

    7620 Katy Fwy, Houston, TX 77024

    The Marq*E is the format buffet. IMAX with Laser, RPX, ScreenX side-wall projection and 4DX motion seats, all under one roof just inside the Beltway. If a movie is shot for IMAX, this is the easiest no-drama answer in the city.

    It's a big multiplex in a big entertainment complex, so the lobby on an opening Friday can feel like a bus station. Worth it for the laser IMAX room. Pick your format on purpose: 4DX is a ride, not a movie.

    TipFor IMAX, sit about two-thirds back and dead center. Front rows mean neck pain.

  • Hermann Park / Museum District

    Wortham Giant Screen Theatre at HMNS

    5555 Hermann Park Dr, Houston, TX 77030

    The Houston Museum of Natural Science runs a giant screen that's 60 by 80 feet, close to eight stories tall, with 4K digital and 3D. This one is for nature, space, dinosaurs and ancient Egypt docs, not Hollywood features.

    Honestly it's one of the more chill things to do on a weekend afternoon. Dark room, huge screen, penguins. Pair it with a walk through Hermann Park and the rest of the museum.

    TipBundle it with a museum ticket so you're not running between lines.

Dine-in movie theaters in Houston (life after the Alamo)

The Alamo era is over in Houston. The last one, at LaCenterra in Katy, shut its doors in February 2026. Dine-in didn't die with it, though. A homegrown chain picked up most of the slack.

  • Northwest Houston / Vintage Park

    Star Cinema Grill Vintage Park

    114 Vintage Park Blvd, Houston, TX 77070

    If you miss the Alamo, this is the closest feeling. It used to be the Vintage Park Alamo Drafthouse until Star Cinema Grill took it over in 2016. Same idea: recliners, a menu, a server who knows to stay out of your sightline.

    Star Cinema Grill is a Houston company and it owns most of the dine-in game here now, with locations in Friendswood, Missouri City, Richmond, Spring and Cypress too. The Cypress location says it's adding a laser IMAX screen with full dine-in service in November 2026.

    TipOrder before the trailers end. Nobody likes the guy flagging down a server during the opening scene.

  • Uptown / Galleria

    Rooftop Cinema Club Uptown

    1700 Post Oak Blvd, 5th Level, Houston, TX 77056

    Open-air cinema on the top of the BLVD Place garage in Uptown. Two screens run at the same time, and each seat gets wireless headphones tuned to your screen, so the two movies never bleed into each other. Adirondack chairs, loveseats, lawn games, a full bar.

    Programming is mostly cult classics and crowd favorites rather than new releases, think holiday movies and Halloween slashers. It runs year-round, though July on a Houston rooftop is a commitment.

    TipGo October through April. Bring a light layer once the sun drops.

Drive-in Houston and outdoor movies (seasonal)

The country drive-in is gone, but you can still watch a movie from your car or a blanket. Outdoor shows are seasonal and weather-dependent, so check the night before.

  • East of downtown, near the Fifth Ward

    Moonstruck Drive-In

    100 Bringhurst St, Houston, TX 77020

    Moonstruck opened in 2020 and ended up being the drive-in that stuck. After the Showboat closed, it became Houston's last real drive-in. It plays new releases on a big screen with the downtown skyline lit up behind it, which is a better view than any multiplex will ever give you.

    Sound comes through your car radio. Food trucks have rotated through on Saturday nights. It's a great low-key date: your own seats, your own snacks, no one shushing you.

    TipCheck the website before you drive over, and keep the car a no-smoke zone. The person behind the wheel stays sober.

  • Hermann Park

    Miller Outdoor Theatre

    Miller has been putting on free shows in Hermann Park since 1923. Mostly it's concerts, dance and Shakespeare, but it runs Movies at Miller nights too, like Haunted Mansion on Halloween 2026. The season runs spring through fall.

    There's covered seating up front and a big grass hill behind it. The hill is the move: blanket, cooler, friends. Remember it's a city park, so lighting up on the hill is a ticket. Save it for later.

    TipHill seats go fast on popular nights. Get there early and claim a flat spot.

  • Downtown

    Discovery Green Screen on the Green

    1500 McKinney St, Houston, TX 77010

    Downtown's front lawn throws free outdoor movie nights through the warmer months. In 2026 there was one on September 19, and the pattern is roughly one or two a month in season. Family-friendly picks, lawn seating, food nearby.

    Easy to fold into a downtown night, and the rail line runs right past it.

    TipBring a blanket and take the train or a rideshare. Downtown event parking is a pain.

Houston Cinema Arts Festival

  • Citywide (fall)

    Houston Cinema Arts Festival

    Every fall the Houston Cinema Arts Society takes over the good screens. The 2026 edition was the 18th, running October 1 to 11 at the MFAH, Rice Cinema, River Oaks Theatre and the DeLUXE Theater in the Fifth Ward, the 1941 Lyons Avenue movie house that's now a performing arts space.

    Expect premieres, Houston-made films, restorations and filmmaker talks. The 2026 lineup opened with a Houston-set film starring Mahershala Ali and threw in a 30th anniversary screening of Bottle Rocket. Mark your calendar for next October.

    TipGrab a pass if you plan on three or more films. The good stuff sells out.

Making a night of it

The movie is half the night. Before a museum or Rice show, eat in Rice Village or Montrose. After a late show at River Oaks, you're five minutes from the good late-night spots. The munchies hit different after a double feature, so we keep a running list on the eat page.

Getting home: Houston is a car city, but nobody should be behind the wheel high. Pick a sober driver or call a rideshare and enjoy the backseat. Remember there's no smoking inside any theater, and none in the parking lot either. Want to know what's actually legal in Texas these days? Check the FAQ before you assume anything.

Questions people ask

What is the best movie theater in Houston?

For the full experience, the River Oaks Theatre on W Gray: a 1939 art deco house, restored and reopened in 2024 with laser projection and food delivered to your seat. For pure screen size on a blockbuster, go laser IMAX at the Regal Edwards Marq*E on the Katy Freeway. For film nerds, the MFAH and Rice Cinema.

Where can I see 35mm film in Houston?

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston can project 35mm in both the Brown Auditorium Theater and the Lynn Wyatt Theater, and regularly schedules 35mm prints of classics. Rice Cinema's new Pitman Cinema Theatre has 35mm and 16mm projectors too. Check each listing for the format.

Is there still an Alamo Drafthouse in Houston?

No. The last Houston-area Alamo, at LaCenterra in Katy, closed in February 2026. The old Vintage Park Alamo has run as Star Cinema Grill since 2016, which is your closest substitute for dine-in.

Is there a drive-in movie theater in Houston?

Yes, Moonstruck Drive-In at 100 Bringhurst St, east of downtown, shows new releases with a skyline backdrop. The Showboat Drive-In in Hockley closed in September 2024. Check Moonstruck's site for showtimes before you go.

Where is the best IMAX in Houston?

The Regal Edwards Houston Marq*E at 7620 Katy Freeway runs IMAX with Laser, plus RPX, ScreenX and 4DX. The Wortham Giant Screen Theatre at the Houston Museum of Natural Science has a 60 by 80 foot screen, but it shows documentaries, not Hollywood features.

Are there free outdoor movies in Houston?

Yes, seasonally. Miller Outdoor Theatre in Hermann Park has been free since 1923 and runs occasional movie nights, and Discovery Green downtown hosts free Screen on the Green nights in the warmer months. The MFAH's Moonlight Movies series on the Glassell roof is ticketed.

Which Houston theaters let you eat and drink during the movie?

River Oaks Theatre and every Star Cinema Grill location do seat-side food and drinks. Rooftop Cinema Club Uptown has a full bar. The MFAH has no concessions, so eat at the museum cafe first.

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