FREE or Cheap Summer Movies in Kansas City

There are plenty of FREE and cheap summer movies in Kansas City, so I hope you’ll be able to find something you want to watch that fits your schedule. Here’s a list of the ones I’ve found so far for 2026. If I come across more, I’ll add them later, so make sure you check back.

If you know of any I missed, please leave a comment below.

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Indoor Movies

AMC Theatres, has a Summer Movie Camp with $3 movies every Monday and Wednesday morning. Tickets are available at the box office of participating theatres where you can also find exact showtimes. More info here.

B&B Theatres is running a Summer Kids Series with $5 movies on Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. at some theaters. Find more details here about show dates and participating locations in Kansas City.

Cinemark’s Summer Movie Clubhouse will allow you to see 10 kid-friendly movies for $1.75 per show. 

Outdoor Movies

Outdoor movie watching sites are happening all over Kansas City this summer. Most are FREE, family friendly and show some great classics or something that wasn’t released too recently. Grab your blankets, lawn chairs, maybe some of your favorite snacks and get ready to sit back and enjoy some outdoor movie magic.

I’ve divided these out by state (Kansas and Missouri).

Missouri

Drive-In at the Square – Gladstone, MO
Linden Square, 620 NE 70th Street, is the destination for FREE movies that start playing at dusk. Here are the dates when you can join:

• July 25: Lilo & Stitch
• August 15: GOAT

Moonlight Movies – Independence, MO
Bring lawn chairs to the Independence Square and catch a FREE movie projected on the side of the Pharaoh Theatre building. Family movies are Thursday nights and cinema classics are Friday night. Here’s the schedule and more details.

Movies in the Park – North Kansas City, MO
On select Friday nights, there will be FREE movies shown at Macken Park (1002 Clark Ferguson Drive). The movies will begin at 7 p.m. Bring your lawn chairs or blankets. Concessions will be sold on site. The movies to be shown are:

• June 26: Hoppers
• July 24: A Bug’s Life
• August 28: GOAT

Off the Wall Film Series – Kansas City, MO
Every third Friday May through Sept., the rooftop terrace of the Central Library, 14 W. 10th Street, Kansas City, MO, is transformed into a FREE movie-watching venue at dusk (about 8:45 p.m.). Find out more details here.

Sand Cinema – Kansas City, MO

Pack the car and pack it full. Admission is just $10 per car to get in and watch a movie on Longview Lake Beach this summer. Check out the schedule here.

Zona Rosa Outdoor Movies – Kansas City, MO

You can watch free outdoor movies at Zona Rosa once a month through July. Schedule here.

Kansas

Tanger Kansas City – Kansas City, KS

Tanger Kansas City offers free movies once a month, asking people to vote on which film they would like to see. Upcoming schedule:

July 24, 7 p.m. Christmas in July: Vote for Elf, Polar Express or The Grinch.

Drive-In theatres

Watching movies at a drive-in theatre has sort of fallen to the wayside. Fortunately, Kansas Citians can still try out this cinematic experience at the Boulevard Theater in Kansas City, Kansas. 

Free and cheap summer movies