Going to the pictures will cost just £3 on a day where over 630 cinemas of all sizes will participate, which is up from 550 last year.

The initiative was developed by the cross-industry body Cinema First with support by the Film Distributors’ Association and the UK Cinema Association. Last year a staggering 1.46 million people headed to the flicks, so the organisers are anticipating an even bigger turnout this time.

Some of the films you can expect to see for a bargain price include Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One, The Equalizer 3, Elemental, Theatre Camp and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.

The event comes hot off the heels of the ‘Barbenheimer’ releases earlier this month, where Barbie and Oppenheimer grossed a combined £30m from filmgoers.

Barbenheimer boom has boosted profile of cinemas

Iain Jacob, chair of Cinema First, said: ‘‘There seems no better time than now to celebrate UK cinema-going, one of the nation’s favourite out-of-home leisure activities.

“Coming off of the back of recent successes and the huge profile they have given to the sector, we wanted to give everyone a chance to enjoy the big screen experience.

“While all the evidence confirms that cinema-going is amongst the most low-cost, best value-for-money leisure opportunities, we also of course recognise that many households are still experiencing significant impacts on their finances and wanted to do our bit to make a trip to the cinema even more affordable for the whole family.”

For details on participating UK sites, head to nationalcinemaday.uk/about-ncd/.