D.C. movie fans were devastated when HBO discontinued its popular “Screen on the Green” series in 2016.
Now you can rejoice with a revival of sorts as the National Mall hosts the inaugural Paramount+ Movie Nights.
“If you miss Screen on the Green, come by this Saturday evening and watch our Paramount+ Movie Night in its first-ever inauguration on the National Mall,” Executive Vice President of Marketing Puja Vohra told WTOP. “We have been doing our Movie Nights series in New York. … We picked this incredibly iconic location for our very first one in D.C. … Is there a more iconic landmark in America than to be on the National Mall, America’s front yard?”
Saturday’s free outdoor event will feature a special 30th anniversary screening of “Forrest Gump” (1994).
“The movie itself has glimpses of this iconic location, so it felt like the perfect partnership to bring this movie to the National Mall,” Vohra said. “The movie has that scene with Forrest and Jenny in the Reflection [Pool] during the protest march. … Forrest is in D.C. going to visit multiple presidents including LBJ and Kennedy, so it should be a fantastic background for us to be seeing this movie while it’s happening in the movie itself.”
In this way, the entertaining flick becomes a deceptively profound journey through American history.
“‘Forrest Gump’ is such an incredibly iconic movie,” Vohra said. “It’s kind of insane to think that it’s already been 30 years, but if you love the movie and want to remind yourself all the reasons why it’s the perfect family-friendly big blockbuster movie with some incredible stars, including Tom Hanks, come on out and see the movie this weekend.”
To this day, “Forrest Gump” remains one of the most beloved Best Picture winners of all time, having won a whopping six Oscars, including Best Actor for Tom Hanks and Best Director for Robert Zemeckis.
“It is so rare for us to have these big blockbuster movies also be critically acclaimed and award winning, sometimes those things can be very different, but this is one of those rare movies like ‘Titanic,’ like ‘Lord of the Rings,’ like ‘Oppenheimer’ that has everything: big stars, big locations, incredibly heart-wrenching story, phenomenal acting, awards, box-office bonanza, all of it all rolled into one. It’s such a part of American legend. It’s one of the greats.”
The giant screen will be located on the National Mall near the Smithsonian Metro Stop.
The lawn officially opens at 5 p.m. with the movie screening beginning at dusk.
Listen to our full conversation here.
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