Want to get out of your house and into a movie house in 2026? You’ll have many more open-caption movies to choose from.

Thanks to the John Waldo Act of 2025, many movie theaters are required to show more open-caption movies AND more prime-time open-caption movies.

What does the law require?

Theater companies with five or more theaters with at least five screenings of a movie in one theater must offer two shows with open captions during the first two weeks of the movie’s release. At least one of these two shows must be during peak hours.

After the first two weeks, the theater has to offer at least one open caption showing during peak hours. Peak hours are considered Friday from 6 – 11 pm, or Saturday and Sunday from 11:30 am to 11 pm.

Smaller theater chains — those with four or fewer locations in Washington State — can respond to open-caption requests within eight days, or they can follow the guidelines for the large chains. If you need them, be sure to request open-captions from these smaller theater chains, such as SIFF, Grand Cinema Tacoma, or the Crest.

We encourage you to grab (gently) your friends and family and go watch an open-captioned movie at your favorite theater. Then thank the theater manager so that they know these OC shows are valued and important.

For more details on the John Waldo act, which we helped pass, check out Becky Montgomery’s 2025 post and this Seattle Times article (you may need a subscription for the Times article.)

To sign up to get notified of OC shows in your area, join the Open-Caption Movie Club. It’s free.