The White House Movie Theater Is Opening To The Public

white house
(Image credit: Photo courtesy of Whitehouse.gov)

White House tours just reopened for public tours back in March, but a change to the tour has already been made. If you are a fan of the whole moviegoing experience, you should be pleased as punch to learn about the change. The White House recently announced that visitors to the East Wing will soon be able to check out the White House Movie Theater for the first time. Even better? The new exhibit will be open immediately.

First Lady Melania Trump made the change to the tour, noting on Friday that tours had already begun, so if you do have a trip to the White House planned soon, the White House Movie Theater should be a pretty fun stop--even if the sound and picture aren't on display. Tours are currently available between 7:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, and then 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Tours usually last around 45 minutes.

Regardless of the new touring spot, if you can't make the trip all the way to Washington, D.C. and the White House, the official White House social media account has already given us a look at the plush theater, which was remodeled back in 2004 to resemble the movie theaters from the early 1900s, at the start of history films.

A photo posted by on

It's not the first time the room has been refurbished, either. According to the White House, the room was converted from a cloakroom---yes, a cloakroom!--back in 1942. The Reagan era added seats that were "tiered" to the room. And then the room was redone to look like the above images just after the turn of the century. Now, they will be on display for people to see.

The average AMC isn't going to wow audiences, but there are some fabulous theaters out there, including the gilded Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, which will give you an old school Hollywood feel. The Arclight and Alamo Drafthouse theater chains are also famous for the experience they give patrons. As the nature of theaters is continuing to evolve and the screening experience at home is getting better and better, a look at the White House Movie Theater should be a fun experience, even if it's not the largest or most magnificent theater you've ever seen.

Jessica Rawden
Managing Editor

Jessica Rawden is Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. She’s been kicking out news stories since 2007 and joined the full-time staff in 2014. She oversees news content, hiring and training for the site, and her areas of expertise include theme parks, rom-coms, Hallmark (particularly Christmas movie season), reality TV, celebrity interviews and primetime. She loves a good animated movie. Jessica has a Masters in Library Science degree from Indiana University, and used to be found behind a reference desk most definitely not shushing people. She now uses those skills in researching and tracking down information in very different ways.