The Showboat Drive In is a classic, old-school theater northwest of the Cypress area of Houston that’s been in operation since 2005. This week, the Houston drive-in theater will be screening its last films after it announced the sell of the property. The theater’s owner, however, has plans to open additional locations.
Showboat opened in Hockley northwest of Cypress in 2005. The theater offered a classic drive-in theater experience – giving patrons a blast to the past. This past week, the theater’s owner announced that they’d sold the property and would be hosting their last screening on September 14, officially closing on September 15.
Owner, Andrew Thomas, stated that the theater’s closure was in part due to area development, property taxes, as well as the the impact that COVID has on major theater releases.
According to Thomas: “a typical year there’s about 100 to 150 major releases that come out and we only had 40 that year and the average over the last three years has been about 80 so we’re still way behind where we need to be.”
The decreased theatrical releases was exacerbated in the wake of the writer’s strike.
Thomas has plans to open two new locations on the opposite sides of Houston. He told Chronicle that he hopes to start construction on his property purchase on the south side of Houston in 2025, with the goal of opening in 2026. In that same conversation he stated that he’s eyeing two properties around the area of Waller that he aims to open in 2027.
“Thank you for all of the many wonderful memories over the years,” the theater writes on its website. “We have found a new piece of land tucked further away from the hustle and bustle of the rapidly developing area we currently inhabit. We look forward to beginning construction on the new location in 2025 with a plan to open in spring of 2026.”
The theater has not yet released its schedule for its screenings on its last days of operations, September 13 and 14, though it seems like it will be screening the following movies: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Twisters, Deadpool & Wolverine, and Trap.
See also: 10 Fantastic Cinemas In Houston To Enjoy A Movie Night