Rex Willis grew up going to the drive-in theaters in Shelby and Kings Mountain.
“It’s a special feeling, to go to a drive-in, and it’s unforgettable, … that feeling of getting into your feelings and stuff and really thinking about life,†Willis said. “Just being out with all the community and stuff to watch a movie under the stars. It puts you into another feeling.â€
The 23-year-old wants to bring the experience to Â鶹´«Ã½.
Willis has been working in restaurants for about 10 years and is currently a waiter at LongHorn Steakhouse in Â鶹´«Ã½. Willis said he handed out surveys at the restaurant for about a month to see what people wanted to come to the area.
“I built my passion there, in restaurants. … I built a reputation for myself, and I told myself I wanted to do something bigger and better for the whole community to feel my passion,†Willis said. “Because I just love what I do, and I want to do it at a high impact for the whole community.â€
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He said when he checked the responses, a drive-in theater seemed to check all the boxes.
“Here I am today, about two years later, really taking a swing at it and wanting to do it for the whole community because it’s desperately needed in this area, especially now after the storm, too,†Willis said. “This won’t be just for Â鶹´«Ã½ and the Catawba Valley or anything, this is for western North Carolina.â€
Could it happen?
Willis hopes the project can happen.
He’s eyeing multiple properties for the venture, but his top contender is a 48-acre lot on Old Colony Road between Patton High School and Mull Elementary School. The vacant lot is owned by the state.
“There’s a lot of local people that’s saying it’s going to be a really big hurdle, but I think, if I take the right approach and stuff, that it will be very doable,†Willis said. “What it will bring economically, socially, just the overall impact it will have in that spot versus other spots is night and day.â€
He said he’s looking for a legal team now and has spoken with people who work with state representatives to figure out how to best draw the state’s interest.
“I’m trying to dig myself in there where I know what I’m doing, because I’m 23. I’m inexperienced. I don’t know how to do any of this. But I’m learning how to,†Willis said.
If he is successful in getting the property — either buying it or leasing it — Willis said he’d only use about 20-25 acres with two screens for the drive-in theater and room to add two more in the future. It would start off as a drive-in theater and event space.
Willis would like to see a campground area, a place to have summer camps and a rooftop bar added to the space as well.
He estimates it would cost between $2-3 million to make all of his plans come to fruition, but the first stage would cost about $1.5-2 million.
“There are plenty of other properties that I have been looking at within the county,†Willis said. “That one is just set up for it. I feel it in my heart and gut that that’s the spot.â€
He’s launching a crowdfunding campaign in March. He wants to purchase land within a year and said he wants to be in more serious talks about land acquisition this summer. He wants construction to start in 2026 and to get the theater open and running by spring 2027.
Learn more about Willis’ plans on his website at
