Movies you saw in the theaters more than once

I'm sure virtually all of us have seen various movies more than once during their theatrical runs.  I couldn't come up with a list, as there'd be dozens of flicks that qualify.

However, the list of movies I've seen multiple times theatrically since the dawn of the DVD age is much shorter.  Off the top of my head:

"Titanic"

"Lord of the Rings: Return of the King"

"Star Wars: Phantom Menace"

"Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith"

"The Dark Knight"

"A Bug's Life"

"Toy Story 2"

I'm sure there are more than that, but those are the ones that come to mind...

My first thought when I read this was "You're kidding, who hasn't,"  but after thinking about for a while maybe this is the new normal.

Before mid 1980's if you ever wanted to see a movie there was no option to paying to see it multiple times.   It might show up on TV eventually, but who knows in what form and quality it would end up.   So many of my friends saw 2001, Jaws, Star Wars, Raiders so many times it was scary  -  a  dozen or more times wasn't unusual and a couple claimed Star Wars close to 100 though I always took that with a grain of salt .   Certainly the whole 1940/1950's it was typical to go to the theater weekly, send the kids to see the Saturday matinee (or weekday specials during the summer), or the weekend Drive-In where the same movie might be playing weeks at a time.

Maybe after Rental places this isn't as common other than a few films like Avatar and Titanic

I think the days of taking the kids to see the recent Disney has suffered knowing the film will be on Home Video soon enough.

Personally, I can't say I've paid to see any movie in theater more than 5 times and even those were likely spaced over 2-3 decades -

The one's that come to mind"

Gone With the Wind  - unfortunately most of those were the cutup/cropped version

Star Trek II -- 3 times in the first 24 hours due to some odd circumstances

Star Wars --  twice in 77, once during a Pre-Empire re-release, and once when the SE were released

Empire Strikes Back maybe 3times including the SE.

Close Encounters 3 or 4 times depending on how you count the SE

LOTR Trilogy twice each

Avatar twice

Sound of Music and Mary Poppins as a kid, but being somewhat rural area I didn't have a close enough theater to be able to walk down the street -- other than the Drive-In the closest was at least 10 miles away.

Numerous Disney re-releases back when they made 10-15 years cycles like Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, etc.

In the last couple of years, I've been seeing movies in the theater alot so I've started seeing more than just Star Wars (or some other movie that I love) multiple times theatrically. Just in the last month, I've seen Get Him To The Greek and Toy Story 3 twice.

On a side note, I've seen Jaws twice theatrically despite being born after its initial release.

I used to repeat a lot more when I was younger. It was also easier to repeat years ago when popular films would be released multiple times to theaters. Now, you have about 3 or 4 weeks to see a film before it begins to disappear from theaters.

The last film I saw more than once theatrically was probably LOTR: Return of the King. These are the others I can remember:

Gremlins

The Goonies

Big Business

Aladdin

Beauty & the Beast

The Lion King

The Mummy (1999)

Reign of Fire

Saving Private Ryan

Beetlejuice

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Batman (1989)

Jurassic Park

Candyman

Child's Play

Fright Night

Critters

Deep Impact

Legends of the Fall

Titanic

LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring

LOTR: Return of the King

Back in the 70's I saw Enter the Dragon at least a dozen times at the cinema, if not more, every time it was re-released I'd be there.

Jaws was another film I saw multiple times during it's initial run and re-releases.

The last film I watched more than once at the cinema was The Fellowship of the Ring.

Nostalgia time. Granted I was a little kid but I can remember going to see Hard Day's Night numerous times. In our theatre, show time would start at 10:00 in the morning. My girlfriend & I would catch a bus and attend these matinees every Saturday. They would show it two-three times till a more adult feature started. They use to comb the theatre during showings so we use to hide in the bathroom until it started again. If I can remember Hard Day's Night played at our theatre for a least a couple of months, maybe longer. Ahhhh those were the good old days.

Years later I can remember seeing The original Star Wars trilogy a few times, Jurassic Park, Lethal Weapon but that's about it.

I have only seen.....

Jurassic Park - Saw it like 3-4 times.

Dazed and Confused - saw it like 3-4 times.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - 11x

Avatar - 5x (2x IMAX-3D, 2x Real-3D, 1x 2D) plus probably 2 more times during the August 27th re-release.

Terminator 2 Judgment Day - 4x

The Abyss - 3x

The current release-schedule game that the studios play really make a mess for viewers...  I know when Avatar came out, things were busy, crazy, and bordering on insane.  Never got a chance to see it in the theaters.  And how much does a studio get from a Netflix rental?  Not much!

I think probably the last films I've seen multiple times were...

Fellowship of the Ring

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (first viewing was FUBAR'd.)

Phantom Menace.  (It couldn't be that bad, could it?! Saw it in 4 different theaters, including the Senator.)

Aladdin

Beauty and the Beast

Mulan

I'm sure there were others, but that sums it up for the recent years..

Leo

But Avatar was in the theaters for about 3 months...

Before the advent of home video, I viewed a number of bigger films more than once theatrically; but those days are mostly gone now.  I'm sure there are others from the late 70s and through the 1980s, but ones that I recall are...

Star Wars ( a total of 45 times including the 1997 version.  Yes really, that many viewings.)

Empire Strikes Back (around 20x)

Return of the Jedi (6x)

Blade Runner (around 8x)

Chariots of Fire (5 or 6x)

The English Patient (11x)

Multiple viewings but no specific count recollections;

Rocky

Jaws

The Abyss

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Alien

Aliens

Tron

Ghostbusters

Terminator 

Terminator 2

Raging Bull

I'm completely burned out on the Star Wars films, but pretty much everything else in this post still gets a (home) viewing every 1 or 2 years.

- Walter...

In the pre-home video/DVD days:

Star Wars

Fun With Dick & Jane

The Deep

The Last Starfighter

The Empire Strikes Back

Raiders Of The Lost Ark

Superman II

Since 1986 or so:

Fantasia

The Phantom Menace

Attack Of The Clones

At this point though I almost never go to the cinema. I may have gone 5 times total since 2005.

I remember seeing movies several times before home video was 'the thing'. These days, I barely have time to get to the theater at all. I saw Titanic on opening day, than again on the Sunday. Beyond that, I saw Alien 3 five times, and Alien Resurrection five times (Aliens is my all time fave film, so anything Alien related gets me).

I do remember seeing Jacob's Ladder and Rain Man twice in the theater way back when.

I can't remember the last film I saw more than once recently though, I may have seen The Phantom Menace twice!

"Star Wars"

"The Empire Strikes Back"

"Raiders of the Lost Ark"

"Stark Trek II"

"Rocky III"

"E.T."

"Return of the Jedi"

"Ghostbusters"
"Purple Rain"

"Beverly Hills Cop"

"Rocky IV"

"Big Trouble in Little China"

"Dirty Dancing"

"Beverly Hills Cop 2"

"Fatal Attraction"

"Die Hard"

"Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade"

"Batman"

"Lethal Weapon 2"

"Die Hard 2"

"Backdraft"

"Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves"

"Terminator 2"

"Batman Returns"

"Jurassic Park"

"The Fugitive"

"The Crow"

"The Lion King"

"Braveheart"

"Batman Forever"

"Heat"

"Twister"

"Mission: Impossible"

"Titanic"

"Armageddon"

"Saving Private Ryan"

"The Mummy"

"The Phantom Menace"

"The Sixth Sense"

"The Fellowship of the Ring"

"Spider-Man"

"Attack of the Clones"

"The Two Towers"

"X-Men 2"

"The Return of the King"

"Spider-Man 2"

"The Incredibles"

"Revenge of the Sith"

"Batman Begins"

"X-Men 3"

"Pirates of the Caribbean 2"

"300"

"Pirates of the Caribbean 3"

"Transformers"

"Iron Man"
"Indiana Jones 4"

"The Dark Knight"

"Star Trek"

"Transformers 2"

Growing up in the 70's-80's my list would look pretty similar to most SW, Indiana Jones, Ghostbusters, BTTF, Disney stuff, etc. As an adult, it's pretty rare it ever happens. These days, given how little I go to the theater now, kids and ticket prices, I seriously doubt I ever see something more than once again.

Phantom Menace (5 times, 3 the first day)

Thin Red Line (3 times, 1 in a gorgeous Technicolor dye-transfer print)

Requiem for a Dream (3)

Eyes Wide Shut

Mulholland Dr.

Children of Heaven

Run Lola Run

Kill Bill v1

Marie Antoinette

Taxi Driver (2-3 times since '98)

Do different versions of Blade Runner count (original 1982 version and 2007 "final cut")?

Quite a few. I enjoyed seeing movies with different audiences, for reactions.

My highest record is KILL BILL, VOL. 2 (9 times).

I also saw FRIDAY THE 13TH 8: JASON TAKES MANHATTAN 8 times (I'm embarrassed to admit).

I saw NIGHT SHIFT (1982) multiple times, and also HISTORY OF THE WORLD PART 1.

Of course, I saw JAWS a lot when it was out, and then re-released, in the '70s.

There are many, many, others I've seen at least twice -- too many to name. The above examples are the ones which were really a lot, for whatever the reasons. 

Well, since video rental and home cinema came around, I don't really think I've seen any movie more than once theatrically, but before that, I remember seeing Star Wars again just before seeing Empire, and then again a few years later SW and Empire before RotJ, the main theater in Stockholm made a thing of showing the earlier installments when the new one premiered.

The first Indiana Jones I saw many times, it ran really long here, and Diva (the French 80s classic) became a midnight special for many years, almost like a Rocky Horror thing (another movie I've also seen several times theatrically).

One I completely missed was Titanic, didnt't catch it till it came out on VHS (remember, it was like Star Wars, DVD hold back for some reason), and of course, by that time, no theater here ever picked up old movies again.

I'd really like to see that on a really big screen.

And yes, Blade Runner, the original and the 'not director's cut although labeled such', but not the final one.

That's about it.

What surprises me most when trying to make this list are the films I DIDN'T see multiple times in the theater. I had an advantage as a wee child that my mother would drop us off at the theater every Saturday morning so that she and my grandmother could have a few hours of "adult time". So things like "Empire Strikes Back" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark" I saw more times than I could possibly remember in the theater. Also, since back in the day movies would literally play for a year or more, it was much easier to spread out viewings than it is today. But by about 1985 I was seeing them twice and that's about it.

But here goes with the list:

1980:

The Empire Strikes Back

1981:

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Superman II

The Cannonball Run

The Great Muppet Caper

1982:

E.T.

Poltergeist

1983:

Return of the Jedi

Superman III (Don't judge me)

Stroker Ace (Really, I was 10, don't judge me)

1984:

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Ghostbusters

Gremlins

1985:

Back to the Future

Rocky IV (Okay, this one you can judge me for)

1986:

Top Gun

Crocodile Dundee

Star Trek IV

Aliens (Thank God for older brothers)

1989:

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Batman

When Harry Met Sally

1990:

Dances With Wolves

The Hunt for Red October

Edward Scissorhands

1991:

Terminator 2

Robin Hood

Beauty and the Beast

Silence of the Lambs

Star Trek VI

Backdraft

The Fisher King

Dead Again

1992:

Batman Returns

Bram Stoker's Dracula

1993:

Jurassic Park

Schindler's List

1994:

Forrest Gump

The Lion King

Speed

1995:

Toy Story

1996:

Twister

Jerry Maguire

1997:

Titanic

The Lost World: Jurassic Park

Contact

1999:

The Phantom Menace

Toy Story 2

2000:

Gladiator

2002:

Spider-Man

Attack of the Clones

Catch Me if you Can

2004:

Spider-Man 2

2005:

Revenge of the Sith

2007:

300

2008:

The Dark Knight (5 times in IMAX alone)

2010:

Toy Story 3

Years would be hard, and in some cases not relevent because I've seen some films year after year after year.  My list of repeat viewings in a theater:

* Raiders of the Lost Ark

* Star Wars (as the original and as redone) same with Empire / ROTJ

* Back to the Future / Back to the Future III (I only saw Back to the Future II once in a theater)

* Star Trek IV

* Star Trek VI

* Beauty and the Beast (Disney)

* Lion King

* Toy Story

* Toy Story 2

* Toy Story 3

* Wall-E

* The Incredibles (several, have kids.. this one was WAY popular and at $4 matinees, kids happy, I was happy, great fun)

* Cars

* Monsters, Inc.

* Terminator 2

* Avatar (three times, twice 3d, once not)

I'm sure there are others.

Here's the ones that fall into a unique category:

* 2001:  I can't say how many times I've seen this.  Let's just say.. a lot.  Everytime it is in a theater, I will go.  Every revival, every re-show, I'm there.

* Serenity.  Can't Stop the Serenity.  Now as a yearly fundraiser.  We all go, every year, and I love it every time and the audience is great.  This is a great, great fan performance piece.

* Rocky Horror Picture Show .. I haven't been lately, but another blast with an audience.

* Sound of Music Sing Along.  Go.  Take the kids.  Go for yourself.  Outside of the Buffy Sings Musical Roadshow (damn bring that back) this is a hoot and a half with kids.

* Fantasia

* Vertigo   I've seen the re-release when it came out twice, and it has been run in limited showings around the US now and again in art houses.  I'd catch it everytime.  I realize there are dissenters, but I love this film.

That would have started in the winter of 1962. The first time I had the desire and freedom to do such a thing.

"To Kill a Mockingbird".

I'm only going to mention films I saw at LEAST a dozen times in the theater.

"In The Heat Of The Night" and "Bonnie and Clyde" were both out in August of 1976. Was there any better way to spend the summer than to see them both again and again and again?

Then in November came "Cool Hand Luke".

"Blade Runner" 

1982 and I remember very well how all the critics hated Blade Runner. I loved it, I went and saw it over and over. I recall driving over to San Antonio once because a theater was going to show it in 70MM, but when I got there they said the projector was broken.

January of 1984 brought "Blood Simple" and the reason I'm livid over the lack of ability to see it now is that I know every line, every beat, every turn of a ceiling fan, because I saw it so often.

So, as a new Coen follower, of course I was gonna get trapped by "Miller's Crossing". 

Which thankfully no one saw a need to re-edit..you mother#*!k+#s.

Yeah, a theatrical cut of Blood Simple would be nice. *sigh*

- Walter.

I'd like to say I can remember all of the flicks that I saw more than once, but I only remember the most recent

Inception 2(third coming up soon)

Avatar 2

OH wait!!

GREASE .... 11 times in the theatre ........ that would be the Mother and 2 sisters influence:)

Brent

I just looked up the box office lists for the last 30 years to make my list. I was bored at work so I did it. But quite honestly I started remembering a lot of smaller films I saw twice like "Reservoir Dogs" and "Crying Game" that I didn't include because they weren't in the top grossing lists. So my list is actually much longer. But I'll spare you guys of that. 

Back in 1977 I went and saw Star Wars 12 times.

Years ago (sometime in the early or mid 1980's), my brother and I spent the entire day at the Fox Plaza movie theater.  They were showing the original "Star Wars" film which had been re-released (not the special editions that came out years later).  We only paid once and were supposed to leave after the first showing.  But instead we sat through it 4 times that day and no one tried to kick us out!  And even more amazing was that we were almost the only ones in the audience.  There was a very small handfull of people during the first showing.  But we literally had the run of the place during the 2nd, 3rd & 4th showing.  I remember that vividly.  I'm guessing that's why we were never asked to leave because the workers there were probably thinking "why bother?".  We lived on popcorn and soda that day.  

I can hardly think of any! 

But in 1983 I did see the original Return Of The Jedi 3 or 4 times (not counting the Special Edition I saw once in 1997), and I saw Ruthless People (1986?) twice (why I remember that, I have no idea!)  I also saw the Star Wars Special Edition twice in 1997 (not counting the original Star Wars I only saw once in 1982). The Empire Strikes Back original I saw once in 1982 and the Special Edition once in 1997. It's possible that I saw The Muppet Movie more than once in 1979, and maybe The Great Muppet Caper, but I really can't remember.

That's pretty much it, I guess. I'm sure there were many other movies when I was a kid that I begged my mom to take me to see more than once, but she didn't have much patience with repeat-viewings of anything. As an adult, there really haven't been any movies that I liked well enough too see twice theatrically. Like most people nowadays, 2nd viewings are on DVD or cable only.

As a kid, we rarely went to the movies, so there was no possibility of, say, seeing Star Wars five times.

As a student, I never had time or money to go the theater but a few times a year, much less repeatedly view a movie.

Now as an employed adult, when I see a movie, even if I wanted to re-watch a film, my wife would veto it.

These day, the best chances for me are when something like The Matrix is re-released in IMAX and I go again for novelty. Or Avatar comes out, and I tell a friend he has to see it, so I catch it a second time with him. And more recently I've actually felt like rewatching a movie to soak it in. I'd like to see Inception again, but that may wait for home viewing.

The Wedding Singer (2 times)
Spider-Man 2 (3 times)
Serenity (3 times)