Compuware Arena Set to Open Curtain on Drive-In Theater Season

, 14900 Beck Rd., is ready to open the curtains on its this weekend.

Movie buffs and families will get a chance to enjoy the summer's biggest blockbusters outdoors again this year. The arena will have three screens in its parking lot, and each admission includes a double feature.

"We're very excited for the upcoming year," said Mike Henry, arena manager. "We hope to have good crowds and a successful year."

Henry said there will be two sneak-preview weekends: this Friday and Saturday and over Memorial Day weekend.

Starting June 10, the theater will run seven days per week, weather permitting. All showtimes begin at dusk. The season runs through Sept. 4.

Henry said the screens are built each year and are raised and lowered each day. Viewers tune in with the FM radios in their cars or with portable stereos.

Each screen caters to different demographics, he said. 

"We just try to gear it toward having the night outside," Henry said. "It's a place where it's very family-oriented."

He said the theater tries to pair similar movies for the double features.

Amy Denawetz, sales and marketing coordinator for Compuware Arena, said the event usually is a big draw, but she couldn't project attendance figures.

This year, Henry said, the theater again is offering a dinner-and-a-movie deal for visitors. At $16 per person, visitors can enjoy a dinner at inside the arena and a ticket for a movie.

Steve Babic, the restaurant manager at CJ's Brewing Company, said the drive-in helps fill a gap in business between hockey seasons.

The restaurant runs the concessions at the drive-in and delivers food via golf cart to the parked vehicles. 

"We offer personalized service to your vehicle," Babic said. 

He said many of the regular menu items, particularly sandwiches and hamburgers, qualify for the dinner-and-a-movie deal.

Regular ticket prices this year are:

• $9 for adults
• $6 for children ages 3-12
• $7 for students from Sunday-Thursday

According to the arena's website, the first weekend's movies are:

• Screen 1: Rio (G) with Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules (PG)
• Screen 2: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tide (PG-13) with Fast Five (PG-13)
• Screen 3: Thor (PG-13) with Insidious (PG-13)

Dinner and movie reservations can be made at 734-453-4455. The theater's hotline, which lists showtimes and weather information, is 734-927-3284.