Long before event cinema became an established part of theatre programming, the Metropolitan Opera was proving that audiences would buy tickets to cinemas for something other than movies.

“The Met: Live in HD” celebrates its 20th anniversary this season with eight live transmissions, three encore presentations and a special retrospective hosted by soprano Renée Fleming. Since launching in December 2006, the series has sold more than 33 million tickets and expanded to more than 2,200 screens in over 70 countries across six continents.

The scale of that growth is striking. The inaugural transmission, Julie Taymor’s production of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” was shown in just 56 cinemas in four countries. Within four years the network had expanded to roughly 1,500 theatres in 46 countries, demonstrating remarkably early that live cultural programming could attract a meaningful global cinema audience. Today, “The Met: Live in HD” remains something of the OG of modern event cinema: predictable programming, premium-priced tickets, a loyal audience and content capable of filling auditoriums outside the traditional movie slate.

This season also highlights another asset the Met has built over two decades. The three encore screenings and 20th-anniversary presentation draw on more than 185 Live in HD performances, allowing the organization to return proven productions to cinemas without mounting a new live transmission each time. That flexibility is particularly useful as the Met continues to face financial pressure and reduce costs across the organization.

The anniversary season begins 19 September with “Twenty Years of the Met in Cinemas: An Anniversary Celebration,” followed by the first live transmission, Mozart’s “Così fan tutte,” on 3 October. The season continues through Wagner’s “Parsifal” on 5 June 2027.