august on the rooftop

Houston's rooftop cinema reveals romantic August lineup full of sultry summer hits and themed nights

Rooftop Cinema Club Houston night skyline

Have the time of your life with your sweetie on the rooftop.

Photo by Rooftop Cinema Club Houston

If summer movies have taught us anything, it’s that the sweltering season is ideal for a sizzling romance. Now, Houston’s Rooftop Cinema Club is taking that theme to heart with the announcement of its new August lineup.

The popular outdoor movie experience, located in Uptown Park at BLVD Place, has unveiled a month of what’s dubbed as “Rooftop Romance” for August. The celebration of love and film features romantic comedies, musicals, and iconic love films for an ultimate date night under the stars, or a special night out with the girls.

Couples (and would-be couples) can look forward to an August 12 special Single’s Night paired with a screening of Hitch. Guests can get some advice on ways to spice up their love life and answers to burning romantic questions. Sure to spark some intrigue is the Rooftop’s version of Love Connection.

In what promises to be a memorable Instagram or Facebook story, urbane cowboys and cowgirls can hop on a mechanical bull at the August 31 screening of Urban Cowboy, which features a countrified, Insta-worthy setting that pays homage to John Travolta and Debra Winger, plus themed cocktails (perfect to down after a sweaty bull ride).

This month, the club leads up to the romantic August theme with a weekly “date night” giveaway; guests can win one of Rooftop’s coveted “love seats” by following the official Instagram page, posting a photo with their favorite movie companion, and tagging #RooftopRomance. (The contest ends July 31.)

Fans can expect a return of the rooftop cinema’s sing-along nights, with chances to belt out choruses to fun flicks such as Grease.

Tickets for the August lineup go on sale online at noon Wednesday, July 10. To paraphrase ’80s icon Ferris Bueller (and CultureMap food editor Eric Sandler): Tickets move pretty fast: If you don’t stop and look, you could miss them.

Prices start at $17 per person for a one-person lounge seat. A single-person seat with the addition of bottomless popcorn is $20. Tickets for couples, or a roomier love seat, plus bottomless popcorn, are $24 per person. New for spring is a student discount ticket starting at $15.30, with valid ID required the night of the event.

As always, the cinema will serve up movie grub from Good Dog Houston, which offers three dogs: the Picnic Dog, the Uptown Dog, and The Dude. Additional fare includes fruit and cheese plates, frito pie, and chili cheese nachos. Adult beverages include a full bar with craft cocktails, local beer options, and an assortment of wines.

Here is the full August movie lineup, which features screenings every night (doors open nightly at 6:30 pm) throughout the month:

August 1 – Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets
August 2 – Dirty Dancing
August 3 – Love & Basketball
August 4 – Selena
August 5 – Higher Learning
August 6 – Casablanca
August 7 – Bohemian Rhapsody
August 8 – A Star is Born
August 9 – The Notebook
August 10 – Closed for private event
August 11 – About Time
August 12 – Hitch
August 13 – The Wood
August 14 – 8 Seconds
August 15 – Pretty Woman
August 16 – La La Land
August 17 – Closed for private event
August 18 – Maid in Manhattan
August 19 – My Best Friend's Wedding
August 20 – Selena
August 21 – Brown Sugar
August 22 – Say Anything
August 23 – The Proposal
August 24 – Hope Floats
August 25 – Grease (Sing-along)
August 26 – A League of Their Own
August 27 – 500 Days of Summer
August 28 – True Romance
August 29 – A Star is Born
August 30 – Bohemian Rhapsody
August 31 – Urban Cowboy

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Rooftop Cinema Club is located at BLVD Place above Whole Foods, 1700 Post Oak Blvd. For tickets and information, visit the official site.

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HOWDY, DOCTORS

Grey's Anatomy spins off new medical drama led by Houston-born showrunner

Photo via Meg Marinis/Instagram

Showrunner Meg Marinis poses with actor Kevin McKidd, who recently exited Grey's Anatomy after more than a decade playing Dr. Owen Hunt.

ABC is bringing the Grey's Anatomy universe to Texas with a new one-hour rural medical drama co-created by longtime showrunner Meg Marinis. Marinis was born in Houston and is an alum of both the Kinkaid School and the University of Texas at Austin.

According to an exclusive report from Deadline, which production company Shondaland shared on social media, the untitled series has received a straight-to-series order from ABC and will follow a team at a rural West Texas medical center described as “the last chance for care before miles of nowhere.”

The series marks the first Grey’s Anatomy franchise show set outside the West Coast, and it's the first that's not centered around an existing main character from the original series.

The new drama will be co-created by Shonda Rhimes and Marinis, who has spent nearly two decades working on Grey’s Anatomy. She joined the series during its third season as a production assistant before rising through the ranks to become a researcher, writer, executive producer, and now showrunner.

"This opportunity will bring new characters and stories to life that will embody the same heart, emotion, and connection audiences have loved from Grey’s for more than two decades, all set in my home state of Texas,” Marinis said in a statement announcing the series. "I am so grateful to Shonda Rhimes for creating this dynamic world and feel so fortunate that I get to be a part of it.”

Marinis’ path to running one of television’s biggest franchises started in Austin. In an interview with Shondaland last year, she recounted moving to Los Angeles during her final semester at UT through the university’s UTLA entertainment program, which allows students to complete coursework while interning in the industry. While finishing school, she interned at Universal before landing a production assistant role on Grey’s Anatomy in 2006.

Marinis has also woven Texas experiences into the flagship series itself in recent years. According to Deadline, she personally knew families affected by the Camp Mystic tragedy and rewrote part of a recent Grey’s Anatomy episode after becoming emotional while working on the script.

The West Texas setting is particularly timely, as rural healthcare access remains a growing issue across the state. According to the Texas Hospital Association, more than 20 rural Texas hospitals have closed since 2010, while roughly a quarter of the state’s remaining rural hospitals are considered at risk of closure.

By centering the new series on what ABC describes as “the last chance for care before miles of nowhere,” the franchise could bring national attention to healthcare access challenges facing communities across West Texas and other rural parts of the state.

The new series joins a long lineage of Texas-set television dramas, though not all were actually filmed in the state. Grey’s Anatomy itself is famously set in Seattle while primarily filmed in the Los Angeles area. Friday Night Lights became closely associated with Austin through extensive local filming, while series like Dallas often recreated Texas from California sound stages, with exteriors of Southfork Ranch serving as the Ewings' fictitious home. Walker, Texas Ranger, meanwhile, became one of the best-known examples of a network drama heavily filmed across Texas itself.

Even after more than 20 years on the air, Grey’s Anatomy remains one of television’s most durable franchises. According to ABC, the drama is now the longest-running primetime medical drama in television history and continues to rank among the network’s strongest scripted performers.

Ellen Pompeo, who stars as Dr. Meredith Grey in the original series, is attached as an executive producer, and the new drama is expected to premiere in 2027.

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