The Athens Ciné Drive-In will return for the season. Find out what's playing and when.

Andrew Shearer, Athens Banner-Herald
·2 min read
The screen starts to light up as the sun sets during the opening night of Ciné’s drive-in movie theater in Athens, Ga., on Tuesday, June 1, 2021. The theater showed “Mad Max: Fury Road” to start out its summer drive-in movie theater shows with a sold-out parking lot at the General Time/Westclox clock factory on Newton Bridge Road.
The screen starts to light up as the sun sets during the opening night of Ciné’s drive-in movie theater in Athens, Ga., on Tuesday, June 1, 2021. The theater showed “Mad Max: Fury Road” to start out its summer drive-in movie theater shows with a sold-out parking lot at the General Time/Westclox clock factory on Newton Bridge Road.

Ciné has announced the return of its drive-in movie series for summer and fall 2022. The first movie shown will be the 1977 George Lucas classic, "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope" on Saturday May 14 in the General Time Athens parking lot. Advance tickets went on sale May 6.

Instead of announcing this year's full schedule, Ciné plans to reveal each film on a week-by-week basis. Last summer's program consisted of a wide range of well-known hits from "Back to the Future," "The Goonies" and "Jurassic Park" to "Do the Right Thing," "Jaws" and "The Shining."

Read more: Ciné announces opening date for new drive-in screenings, schedule for summer pop-ups

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Moviegoers grab concessions and settle in as the sun sets at the opening night of Ciné’s drive-in movie theater in Athens, Ga., on Tuesday, June 1, 2021. The theater showed “Mad Max: Fury Road” to start out its summer drive-in movie theater shows with a sold-out parking lot at the General Time/Westclox clock factory on Newton Bridge Road.
Moviegoers grab concessions and settle in as the sun sets at the opening night of Ciné’s drive-in movie theater in Athens, Ga., on Tuesday, June 1, 2021. The theater showed “Mad Max: Fury Road” to start out its summer drive-in movie theater shows with a sold-out parking lot at the General Time/Westclox clock factory on Newton Bridge Road.

The Ciné Drive-In made its debut on June 1, 2021, with a sold-out showing of "Mad Max: Fury Road" and concluded the season with a double feature of the original 1978 "Halloween" and its 1981 sequel on Oct. 30. The events proved to be a successful alternative to traditional theater-going, where attendance remained down due to COVID-19 safety concerns.

"Schlocktoberfest," the annual horror movie festival hosted by Ciné, was shown exclusively at the drive-in instead the indoor theater on Hancock Avenue, providing guests with the unique retro experience of seeing cult classics like "Texas Chain Saw Massacre" and "Evil Dead 2" back-to-back as audiences in the 1980s might have.

Last summer, Ciné Drive-In attendees often showed up with tailgating gear, picnic tables and pets and socialized with friends and neighbors during the hour between 8 p.m. parking time and the 9 p.m. show. Parents with children who were too young to have ever gone to a drive-in movie during the format's heyday showed up week after week.

Also: Photos: Ciné opens drive-in movie theater with a sold-out showing

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(L-R) Nate Mitchell and Tatiana Veneruso watch "Mad Max: Fury Road" on opening night of the Ciné Drive-In at General Time in Athens, Ga. on Tuesday, June 1, 2021.
(L-R) Nate Mitchell and Tatiana Veneruso watch "Mad Max: Fury Road" on opening night of the Ciné Drive-In at General Time in Athens, Ga. on Tuesday, June 1, 2021.

The "Star Wars" screening on May 14 will occur less than two weeks before the premiere of the Disney+ streaming series "Obi-Wan Kenobi," which details the life of the Jedi master (Ewan McGregor) as he encounters young Luke Skywalker (Grant Feely) for the first time.

General Time Athens is located at 100 Newton Bridge Road. For tickets and schedule updates, visit athenscine.com/drive-in.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Athens Ciné Drive-In movie series returning for summer and fall