This Coronavirus pandemic has caused Walmart the store we have counted on for years to be open 24 hours a day and 7 days a week to close at 8pm at most locations. To make things stranger they are now turning their parking lots in some cities into a drive-in movie. Yes, you heard this right. Walmart is turning parking lots into movie theaters at 160 of its locations, including 14 in North Texas.

Stores throughout the region are among the retailer’s locations taking advantage of the hole left by classic theaters, which closed in mid-March. This will bring families together and outside of the house to enjoy a great American pastime.

While some have opened with increased cleaning practices, not all moviegoers feel safe yet sitting in close quarters with strangers for two hours.

Walmart’s movie tour, which launches nationally Aug. 14 and runs through Oct. 21, debuts locally in Prosper at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 14. (See the full list of local showings below or by visiting thewalmartdrivein.com.)

• Aug. 14-15: Prosper, 500 Richland Blvd.
• Aug. 18-19: Plano, 425 Coit Road.
• Aug. 21-22: The Colony, 4691 State Highway 121.
• Aug. 25-26: Frisco, 355 Stonebrook Pkwy.
• Sept. 1-2: Roanoke, 1228 N. US Highway 377.
• Sept. 4-5: Bedford, 4101 State Highway 121.
• Sept. 8-9: Grand Prairie, 2225 W. Interstate 20.
• Oct. 2-3: McKinney, 2041 Redbud Blvd.
• Oct. 6-7: Irving, 1635 Market Place Blvd.
• Oct. 9-10: Irving, 4100 W. Airport Freeway.
• Oct. 9-10: Rockwall, E. Interstate 30.
• Oct. 13-14: Denton, 2750 W University Dr.
• Oct. 13-14: Wylie, 2050 TX-78.
• Oct. 20-21: Murphy, 115 W. FM 544.

The nationwide tour will be in Oklahoma in September:

• Stillwater: Sept. 1, 2020
• Stillwater: Sept. 2, 2020
• Stillwater: Sept. 4, 2020
• Stillwater: Sept. 5, 2020
• Lawton: Sept. 8, 2020
• Lawton: Sept. 9, 2020
• Yukon: Sept. 11, 2020
• Yukon: Sept. 12, 2020

There are only about 325 drive-in theaters operating today, including 20 in Texas. This is a far cry from their peak in the 1950s when there were over 4,000 locations. In North Texas, drive-ins in Dallas, Fort Worth and Ennis have reported sold-out showings, and a pop-up outdoor theater recently opened in Richardson. Fun Movie Grill in Irving also has turned its parking lot into a drive-in.

Plano-based Cinemark, the third-largest theater company with 555 locations in the U.S. and Latin America, first experimented with reopenings in June at select cinemas in North Texas. It’s now moving forward and plans to open the remainder of its theaters by the end of August.

Walmart Drive-in was created in partnership with the Tribeca Film Festival.