Guide

Are there still drive-in theaters in Montana?

Updated Oct 10, 2026

Yes, but only two. As of the 2026 season, Montana has two drive-in theaters still showing movies: the Silver Bow Drive-In near Butte, open since 1977 with two screens, and The Pasture Drive-In in Amsterdam, which started in 2020. Both are seasonal, so plan on summer nights, not January.

Montana drive-in theaters, open and closed
Name	Town	Year	Status
Silver Bow Drive-In	Butte	1977	Seasonal
The Pasture Drive-In	Amsterdam	2020	Seasonal
Amusement Park Drive-In	Billings	2005	Closed
Pharaohplex Drive-In	Hamilton	2020	Closed

Silver Bow Drive-In

Butte · 1977

The Hansen family put up the first screen south of Butte in 1977 and added a second in 1980, which, the way the family tells it, made this Montana's first twin drive-in. The 2026 season opened April 23, and with Butte's last chain theater gone, this lot off Exit 119 is now the only place in town to see a new release on a big screen. Cash only, 5 mph, and your ticket is good for one side, so pick wisely. It's dark until spring 2027, and the family is asking the county to write its new zoning rules so a drive-in that's been here since 1977 doesn't end up as a nonconforming use.

The Pasture Drive-In

Amsterdam · 2020

The Pasture started in 2020 as Porter Blanchard's business project for an entrepreneur class at Manhattan High School, back when everybody needed something to do outside. His dad Jon calls the first setup a "redneck operation," and after the screen blew over in year two, the family rebuilt it on metal beams concreted into the ground. It runs family movies about every other week, no drinking, with sound on 97.3 FM. The name is not a metaphor.

Amusement Park Drive-In

Billings · 2005

The Cooke family started building this one between Billings and Laurel in 2004, using a screen hauled over from the old Park Drive-In in Cody, Wyoming. In June 2022 an electrical fire took down that wooden screen, about 70 years old and too old to insure, and Riley Cooke put the rebuild at around $300,000. The family was still talking about reopening in fall 2024. For now the gate stays shut.

Pharaohplex Drive-In

Hamilton · 2020

When COVID closed indoor theaters, the Pharaohplex Cinemas hung a drive-in screen on the side of its own building and showed the first movie July 1, 2020. Two years later it added an outdoor sound system so people could ditch the car radio and sit on the lawn. The drive-in is done now, and the building has moved on to making movies instead of showing them.

Know a Montana drive-in we missed, even one that only fires up a few nights a summer? Send it our way.

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