The average movie ticket sold for around $8 last year, and that figure is expected to rise to $8.15 by the end of 2012. But all summer long, it’s possible to go the movies—yes, to the movies, not only watch a Redbox DVD rental at home—for a single dollar. Just don’t expect to see “The Dark Knight Rises” or any other first-run summer blockbuster, though.
Instead, $1 is the special admissions charge for morning showings of G- and PG-rated films that are sure to be popular with kids and families, though they’re not brand new in theaters. In what’s become an annual tradition, the Regal Entertainment Group announced it would offer a Summer Movie Express promotion, featuring $1 tickets for everyone to movies like the “Adventures of Tin Tin,” “Happy Feet Two,” “Rio,” “Puss in Boots,” “Hugo,” and “Dolphin Tale.”
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The $1 tickets are strictly for 10 a.m. showings of specified family-friendly films on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, giving parents a cheap way to entertain the kids and cool off in the middle of hot summer weeks. Regal Entertainment runs the 282 Regal Cinemas, United Artists and Edwards Theatres brands, and hundreds of theaters around the country are participating.
Starting dates for $1 films vary from theater to theater, but most begin their $1 schedule this week or next, and the specials continue into August. Some of the proceeds collected from admission is being given to the Will Rogers Institute to benefit the nonprofit’s work in medical research and health education.
And in case you’re looking for ways to save a little on tickets to the summer’s first-run blockbusters, check out lifehacker’s list of deals from Fandango, which includes $5 off and two-for-one specials.
Brad Tuttle is a reporter at TIME. Find him on Twitter at @bradrtuttle. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.