Family-friendly drive-in cinema launched in Dubai Hills

Reel Cinema's first drive-in location was at The Dubai Mall, pictured above. The next will focus on family friendly movies at Dubai Hills Estate. Courtesy Reel Cinemas

A new drive-in cinema is coming to Dubai, and it’s one for that all ages can enjoy.

Reel Cinemas has announced its outdoor cinema, at Dubai Hills Estate, in a space between Mulberry 2 and Central Park.

It will open on Thursday, June 25, and will screen family-friendly movies.

It's the latest in a string of drive-in cinema openings from movie chains across the UAE, which began earlier in the year as the coronavirus pandemic forced cinemas to shut.

Now, despite cinemas reopening across Dubai and other emirates following, both the novelty of, and the desire to visit, the drive-in type, has clearly not worn off.

Reel Cinemas launched their first drive-in cinema at The Dubai Mall in late May. It followed a Vox version at Mall of the Emirates and one announced for Sharjah's Madar at Aljada for July.

But, as is the case at all cinemas, there aren't many new releases around, and so you can expect to see older films on the big screen. The season will open with a screening of Spiderman Homecoming on Thursday at 8pm. This will be followed by daily screenings of other family favourites, including Sonic the Hedgehog, Minions, Dolittle, The Secret Life of Pets 2 and How to Train your Dragon Hidden World and Angry Birds 2.

As for new releases, films are currently scheduled to come out only about once a fortnight. There are three thrillers due to come up between now and mid-June, and the first major release is Christopher Nolan's Tenet on July 16, but that's also subject to change. See the full list of release dates here.

Tickets for the new Dubai Hill drive-in cost Dh170 per car, including a food and beverage package for two people, which consists of one cheese popcorn, one salted popcorn, one regular nachos, two chocolate bars, two soft drinks and two water bottles.

Food carts will also be available for those who wish to make additional orders.

A video of the opening night of the Vox drive-in at Mall of the Emirates:

To book tickets or for more information, visit reelcinemas.ae