Countdown to showtime on the big screen at Pop Up Cinemas at the Vancouver Mall in Vancouver, Washington (photo by Cheryl Landes)

On Friday and Saturday this summer, Pop Up Cinemas offers a movie experience from the comfort of your car in Vancouver, Washington. A different movie with a G or PG rating projects on a 35-foot-wide inflatable screen each night in the parking lot at the northeast corner of the Vancouver Mall, between JC Penney and Jimmy John’s.

Tonight, I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark at Pop Up Cinemas. The image quality was as good as the projectors at a regular drive-in movie theater. The sound is broadcast on FM 104.3.

Concessions are available, and the restrooms are portable toilets. Whenever anyone leaves their cars, they must wear a mask and maintain a six-foot distance from people who are not in their party.

Jesse and Johanna Miller started Pop Up Cinemas in July. They missed taking their family to the annual outdoor movies sponsored by Vancouver Parks and Recreation, which were cancelled this year because of COVID-19. The closest drive-in movie theater is in Newberg, Oregon, 30 miles away, so they came up with the idea to create their own drive-in that the locals could enjoy. With the generosity of the Vancouver Mall and others, their idea came to life.

The Millers plan to continue the movies until either the rainy season starts, usually in October, or the local theaters reopen, whichever comes first.

Pop Up Cinemas opens the parking lot at 8 p.m., and the movie starts at approximately 9 p.m.

For the latest movie schedule and updates, check Pop Up Cinemas’ Facebook page. Tickets are sold via Eventbrite.