Editor's note: Cactus Drive In was originally slated to show “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” on Thursday. Due to licensing requirements, the theater will no longer be showing “Talladega Nights,” but will show “Days of Thunder” instead.
A local business hoping to open Tucson’s next drive-in theater is showing a Tom Cruise film on its newly acquired movie screen this Thursday, May 7.
Cactus Drive-In Theatre used to host pop-up screenings at the Tanque Verde Swap Meet, but is now testing its pop-up operation at Tucson Speedway. Thursday’s screening of “Days of Thunder” will be the drive-in’s first event at the southeast-side racetrack.
“This is a soft opening,” owner Chris Kazanes says. “We needed a little bit of help to get going and Tucson Speedway stepped up to the plate and offered to host.”
Initially, there was some hesitation about hosting an event amid the coronavirus pandemic — though the event follows CDC guidelines, Kazanes says.
“Later on, we started seeing other drive-in movies, specifically in Phoenix and Mesa,” Kazanes says. “We saw those ones and other drive-ins are still open. And we saw that all over the country, drive-ins are making a comeback. We said, ‘This is probably the best time to get our word out.’” Beyond the location change, Cactus Drive In’s new screen is much larger than the one that was used at the swap meet. Kazanes and co-owner Tyler Espe also purchased new sound and projection equipment.
“(The screen) weighs like 900 pounds,” Kazanes says of the 40 foot by 22.5 foot screen. “Before, you could pick our previous screen up with one person. This one? Good luck.”
Cactus Drive In started as a nonprofit in 2011 and was originally called Cactus Drive In Theatre Foundation. Its name is an ode to De Anza, Tucson’s last drive-in theater that closed in 2009. At one point, De Anza was called Cactus Drive In. The foundation held fundraisers with the goal of bringing a drive-in back to the Old Pueblo.
Espe hopped on board and purchased the company, which is no longer a nonprofit, in 2016 and Kazanes followed soon after. The duo shares the same goal as the former owners — to eventually open a permanent drive-in.
But this week, they’re focusing on Thursday’s pop-up event at Tucson Speedway, which is extra special for Kazanes.
“Back in the day when it was Tucson Raceway Park, my uncle was the director there,” Kazanes says. “I have a lot of fond memories of Tucson Raceway Park. And I used to be a security guard up there so it’s going back to what it was when I was a kid.”
A look at Tucson's last drive-in:
Photos: Looking back at Tucson's last drive-in movie theater
De Anza Drive-In movie theater
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De Anza Drive-In at 22nd and Alvernon. June 10, 1977.
De Anza Drive-In movie theater
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De Anza movie goers make their way to the snack bar in this June 10, 1977. Photo by Jim Davis.
Aerial, Tucson, 1968
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And rising from the desert is the De Anza Drive-In theatre on Alvernon Way, south of 22nd Street, in this aerial photo of Tucson in December, 1968. To the left, across Alvernon and barely visible, is the Magic Carpet Slide. In the background, the Bermuda grass at Randolph golf course at Reid Park has gone dormant for the winter.
DeAnza Drive-In
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Nadine Tikkanen and her two children are sitting on the truck and enjoying their snacks from the snack bar as they are watching the movie on the screen at the DeAnza Drive-in on Alvernon and 22nd St. in 2000.
DeAnza Drive-In
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Marcus van Winden, left, watches "What Happens in Vegas" with Nicole Blaser while they sit in the back of their vehicle during a showing at DeAnza Drive-In Movie Theatre on May 13, 2008 in Tucson, Ariz.
DeAnza Drive-In
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"Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay" runs through the reels in the projection room during a showing at DeAnza Drive-In Movie Theatre on May 13, 2008 in Tucson, Ariz.
DeAnza Drive-In
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Steve Christensen works the box-office while cars pile in at DeAnza Drive-In Movie Theatre on May 13, 2008 in Tucson, Ariz.
De Anza Drive-In movie theater
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DeAnza Drive-in movie-goer Kate Gardiner watches an explosion roll across the screen from the safety of her car. 2/12/99
De Anza Drive-In movie theater
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The feet of a movie-goer waggle in front of one of the DeAnza Drive-In's three screens. 2/12/99
De Anza Drive-In movie theater
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The DeAnza Drive-In Theater facade, also the back of the main screen. 2/12/99
De Anza Drive-In movie theater
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The tail lights of a car streak towards the exit of the DeAnza Drive-In Theater as a movie still plays in the background. 2/12/99
De Anza Drive-In movie theater
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Ewart Edwards, Manager of the DeAnza Drive-In Theater in 1999. The DeAnza was expected to close in the next few months, but financing for the deal fell through. Ewart would've wrapped up a 50-year career in the movie business. Photo taken on 1/27/99.
DeAnza Drive-In movie theater
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Ewart Edwards, who died of cancer in 2006, worked at the old Lyric and Fox theaters and several drive-ins in Tucson over a span of nearly 50 years.
De Anza Drive-In movie theater
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As the last of the day's light fades away, the previews begin on one of the four screens at the DeAnza Drive-In Theatre, the last drive-in in Tucson, AZ., Thursday, July 20, 2006.
De Anza Drive-In movie theater
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A pair of children watch the animated movie "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" from a car roof during the closing night of the DeAnza Drive-In Theater, Saturday Oct. 3 2009 in Tucson, Ariz.
De Anza Drive-In movie theater
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Sharon Brown (left) and her son, 10-year-old William Brown, eat popcorn in the back of their car during the closing night of the DeAnza Drive-In Theater on Oct. 3, 2009 in Tucson, Ariz. The two have been to the drive-in "many" times over the years.
De Anza Drive-In movie theater
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A long line of cars wait for the ticket booth to open on the closing night of the DeAnza Drive-In Theater on Saturday, Oct. 3 2009 in Tucson, Ariz.
De Anza Drive-In movie theater
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Cole Becker, 11, left, and his friend Walter Scalora, 10, get comfortable at their prime movie-watching location on top of a car on the closing night of the DeAnza Drive-In Theater on Oct. 3, 2009 in Tucson, Ariz.
De Anza Drive-In movie theater
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A long line of cars slowly move towards the ticket booth on the closing night of the DeAnza Drive-In Theater on Oct. 3, 2009 in Tucson, Ariz.
De Anza Drive-In movie theater
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A lot full of cars watching the main screen on the closing night of the DeAnza Drive in Theater on Oct. 3, 2009 in Tucson, Ariz. The main screen was showing the animated movie "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs." The theater, near the corner of Alvernon Way and 22nd Street, was the oldest drive-in theater in Arizona.
De Anza Drive-In movie theater
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A movie poster for the upcoming feature "Zombieland" hangs on the wall of the snack bar as patrons file through before the start of the movies at the DeAnza Drive-In on Thursday, October 1, 2009, in Tucson, Ariz.
De Anza Drive-In movie theater
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Snack bar attendant Armando Nava prepares a couple of Eegee's at the De Anza Drive-In as customers trickle in before the start of the various movies on Thursday, October 1, 2009, in Tucson, Ariz.
De Anza Drive-In movie theater
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A vehicle stops by the ticket office at the De Anza Drive-In to view the animated feature, "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs," on Thursday, October 1, 2009, in Tucson, Ariz.
De Anza Drive-In movie theater
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Moviegoers line up in their vehicles in front of the DeAnza ticket office as Garrick Orduño is silhouetted in the doorway ready to receive them on Thursday, October 1, 2009, in Tucson, Ariz.
De Anza Drive-In movie theater
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Moviegoers have a great parking spot at the DeAnza Drive-In as they view the animated feature "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" on Thursday, October 1, 2009, in Tucson, Ariz.
De Anza Drive-In movie theater
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A crew from City Demo Co. removes the panels from the last standing screen of the former DeAnza Drive-In, Tucson, AZ., April 7, 2010, which closed October of 2009. Les Martin, a supervisor with Canyon Building & Design, the company responsible for the demolition of the drive-in, said work to salvage the last and largest of the screens began on a Tuesday, with crews likely completing the work by Friday. Charles Spillar, who found homes for several giant sculptures that used to stand at the Magic Carpet miniature-golf course, wanted to use two screens at the shut-down De Anza Drive-In, 1401 S. Alvernon Way, to open a new theater called the Cactus Drive-In as a tribute to the De Anza's former name. "There was only one screen saved since Evergreen is paying for the dismantling and that being the giant cinemascope one in the front of the Drive-In," Spillar said.
