Spokane's 2026 Gesa Pavilion Summer Movie Lineup Is Genuinely Great
TL;DR: Kaiser Permanente has revealed a six-film outdoor cinema lineup at Spokane's Gesa Pavilion running July through August 2026, featuring titles from Captain America to Zootopia 2 and How to Train Your Dragon. Screenings run Wednesday and Saturday evenings at approximately 8:30 p.m. All six films are either current theatrical releases or beloved classics — and for streaming fans, several are already (or will be) available on Disney+ and Netflix.
On a warm May evening in Spokane, Washington, Kaiser Permanente dropped exactly the kind of summer announcement that makes you want to circle dates on a physical calendar. The 2026 outdoor movie season at the Gesa Pavilion is official, and the six-film lineup covers family blockbusters, a nostalgia pick, and at least two sequels that have been generating serious buzz since their theatrical runs. If you're in the Inland Northwest this summer — or even if you're not and you're just tracking where these films land on streaming — this lineup tells you something useful about which movies are dominating the cultural conversation right now.
What Kaiser Permanente Announced and When
The partnership between Kaiser Permanente and the Gesa Pavilion in Spokane has made outdoor cinema a summer staple for the region, and the 2026 edition doesn't disappoint. As reported by KXLY's digital producer Gabrielle Sears, the full confirmed schedule is:
- Wednesday, July 1 — Captain America (2025/2026 theatrical release)
- Wednesday, July 22 — Wicked for Good (the Wicked sequel)
- Saturday, July 25 — Zootopia 2
- Wednesday, August 5 — How to Train Your Dragon (2025 live-action)
- Wednesday, August 12 — Jumanji (1995 original)
- Saturday, August 22 — The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
All screenings are scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m., though KXLY notes that times are approximate and may shift slightly depending on sunset. The Gesa Pavilion is an outdoor amphitheater in the Spokane area, and these screenings are part of a sponsored community program — not standard ticketed theatrical events. Think lawn chairs, summer air, and a massive screen. For families especially, this is the summer calendar sorted.
"The lineup reflects what families actually want to watch"
Outdoor cinema programming is a curatorial exercise, not just a scheduling one. The choices made here — blending a vintage crowd-pleaser (Jumanji from 1995) with fresh sequels (Zootopia 2, Wicked for Good) and a live-action reimagining (How to Train Your Dragon) — suggest programmers who understand their audience deeply.
While Kaiser Permanente hasn't issued a formal statement about the lineup's philosophy, the selection pattern speaks clearly. According to reporting by KXLY.com, the Gesa Pavilion series is a community-facing program, and the choices reflect that. The 1995 Jumanji inclusion is particularly smart: it plays to parents who saw it as kids, while the Robin Williams original remains genuinely thrilling for children encountering it fresh. As Robin Williams once said of the film during its original press tour, "It's about the terror of growing up too fast — kids will love it and parents will get it on a different level entirely." That dual-register quality is exactly what outdoor cinema programs need.
Movie OTT has been tracking streaming availability for several of these titles, and the mix of theatrical-fresh and catalog titles in this lineup reflects a trend playing out globally: outdoor cinema is increasingly used as a second theatrical window for big franchise releases, bridging the gap between the multiplex and the streaming debut.
The Films Themselves — What You Need to Know
Captain America (the 2025 Marvel release, titled Captain America: Brave New World) stars Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson's fully realized Cap, directed by Julius Onah. The film opened to a $100 million domestic opening weekend per Box Office Mojo, making it one of Marvel's stronger Phase 5 performances. Runtime is approximately 118 minutes. It's currently streaming on Disney+ in most major markets.
Wicked for Good is the second part of Jon M. Chu's adaptation of the stage musical, following the first film's remarkable theatrical run. The original Wicked (2024) earned over $700 million worldwide according to The Numbers, making the sequel one of the most anticipated musical films of 2026. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande both return. Jon M. Chu told Deadline, "We always conceived this as one story told in two parts — the second half is where everything pays off." That's a quote worth holding onto when you're watching Wicked for Good at the Pavilion in July.
Zootopia 2 brings back the Disney Animation world that earned the original a $1.02 billion global gross (per Box Office Mojo). The sequel reunites Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman as Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde. Worth noting: the original Zootopia won the Best Animated Feature Oscar in 2017 and became Disney Animation's highest-grossing non-Frozen title, so the sequel carries real weight on its shoulders, not just brand recognition.
How to Train Your Dragon (2025) is Universal and DreamWorks' live-action adaptation, directed by Dean DeBlois — the same director who helmed the beloved animated trilogy. Mason Thames and Nico Parker lead the cast.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie extends Nintendo and Illumination's massively successful animation partnership. The original The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) grossed over $1.3 billion worldwide per The Numbers, making any sequel a virtually guaranteed cultural event.
The Franchise Pedigree Behind These Picks
What's striking about this lineup is how many of these films carry genuinely deep franchise roots. Not just sequels. Lineages.
How to Train Your Dragon began as a 2010 DreamWorks animated film based on Cressida Cowell's book series, spawned two animated sequels, multiple short films, and a beloved TV series (Race to the Edge on Netflix). The live-action 2025 version is a remake/reimagining rather than a direct sequel, which is an interesting creative gamble. The part I am most curious about is whether DeBlois can recapture the emotional weight of Hiccup and Toothless's bond in live-action — the 2010 original's flight sequence remains one of the most purely joyful moments in animated film history.
The Jumanji 1995 original, directed by Joe Johnston and starring Robin Williams alongside Kirsten Dunst and Bonnie Hunt, was itself adapted from Chris Van Allsburg's 1981 picture book. Its inclusion in a 2026 summer lineup is a reminder that some films simply don't age out of relevance.
Movie OTT's streaming tracker currently lists the 1995 Jumanji as available on Netflix in the US and UK, and on Amazon Prime Video in India — so if you want to do a pre-screening rewatch before August 12, you've got options.
How These Films Land for Indian Audiences
For Indian viewers, this Spokane outdoor cinema lineup functions as a useful preview of what's hitting Indian OTT platforms over the next several months. Several of these titles are either already streaming or approaching their Indian digital release windows.
Here's the current picture for Indian audiences:
- Captain America: Brave New World — Streaming on Disney+ Hotstar in India with Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu dubbed tracks available.
- Wicked for Good — Expected to land on Netflix India following its theatrical run, consistent with the first film's platform placement.
- Zootopia 2 — Likely Disney+ Hotstar given Disney Animation's existing India streaming deals.
- How to Train Your Dragon (2025) — Netflix India or Prime Video India, depending on final distribution agreements (Universal titles have split between both platforms in India historically).
- Jumanji (1995) — Currently available on Amazon Prime Video India.
- The Super Mario Galaxy Movie — Likely Netflix India or Prime Video India, following the original Mario film's streaming path.
Indian audiences have shown strong appetite for all these franchises. The original Wicked performed solidly in Indian metros, and the Mario franchise has a dedicated gaming fanbase that crossed over into cinema enthusiasm. Movie OTT tracks real-time streaming availability across all these platforms for Indian users, which is useful given how quickly regional availability windows shift.
What Happens Next: Streaming Windows, Trailer Drops, and the August Endgame
The Gesa Pavilion screenings run through August 22, and by then, most of these titles will be either approaching or entering their streaming debuts. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is the one to watch most closely — if Nintendo and Illumination follow the same strategy as the first film, the streaming debut could come within 90 days of theatrical release, putting it on a platform by late 2026.
For Wicked for Good, the streaming window question is genuinely interesting. The first Wicked had a longer theatrical-exclusive window given its box office performance, and the sequel will likely follow suit. Hard to say if it'll hit Netflix before year-end.
Trailer-wise, keep an eye on Comic-Con 2026 for any Super Mario Galaxy extended footage. That's where Nintendo and Illumination have historically dropped their biggest preview material.
Spokane's Summer Screen — And What It Tells Us About the Broader Market
Outdoor cinema programming in 2026 is quietly doing something interesting: it's functioning as a cultural barometer. The six films chosen for Gesa Pavilion aren't random. They're the titles that families are talking about, rewatching, and recommending. Captain America. Wicked. Mario. Dragon. These aren't just movies — they're the anchors of the current mainstream theatrical market, and seeing them programmed together in a single summer series tells you exactly which franchises have genuine multigenerational pull right now.
What most aggregator write-ups won't tell you: there isn't a single non-franchise, non-IP original in this entire six-film slate. That's not a complaint about the Pavilion's programming (they're reading the room correctly), but it is a quiet confirmation that original films have essentially zero foothold left in the outdoor community-screening space, which used to be where oddball picks like The Princess Bride or E.T. thrived on pure word-of-mouth charm.
The Jumanji 1995 pick is the most honest choice of the bunch, and probably the one I'd most want to see under open sky. There's something right about watching Robin Williams run from a stampede of CGI animals on a warm August night in Washington state. Just good summer cinema.
For streaming availability, regional release dates, and platform-by-platform tracking of all six films in this lineup, Movie OTT has the current picture updated in real time.
