WE ARE SO BACK. The Stardust Drive-In Theater, located about 45 minutes from Eau Claire in Chetek, will reopen after taking the 2025 season off. Now, the Pettijohn family will resume operations as the drive-in's new owners. (All photos by Pettijohn Photography)

Drive-in movie theaters are fewer and further between these days, and after Eau Claire’s Gemini Drive-In shuttered in 2015, the next closest outdoor movie destination became Chetek’s Stardust Drive-In Theater (995 22nd St.).

Longtime owner Nicholas Meyer (not to be mistaken with Volume One publisher, Nick Meyer), alongside his family, saw the Stardust Drive-In return season after season through the first half of the 2020s. Then, in 2025, the Stardust blinked out.

Last year, the business created a GoFundMe page, explaining its hopefully short-term closure: Meyer was diagnosed with cancer and, understandably, needed to prioritize his health and time with loved ones. For that reason, the Stardust would be closed – and was calling on the community for support.

After that, not much was shared publicly on the state of the Stardust or if the Meyer family would continue operations. Then, just this May, the Stardust’s social media pages became active again and announced a soft reopening was slated for June.

Now, thanks to the Pettijohn family, the iconic Stardust Drive-In – which first opened in 2008 with original owners Paul and Marlys Jayener – is officially lit up again.

While Meyer is staying on the team as Stardust’s manager, the new owners – Wendy and Mike Pettijohn, alongside their kids; the theater will remain a family-owned business – have added more seating and gathering areas, made changes to the concessions menu and are hopeful for what is yet to come.

“A drive-in offers something that’s becoming harder to find – an experience people can enjoy together. It isn’t just about watching a movie; it's about making memories with family and friends.”

MITCH PETTIJOHN

SON OF WENDY AND MIKE PETTIJOHN, OWNERS OF STARDUST DRIVE-IN THEATER

The Stardust concessions have previously offered all kinds of sweet and savory snacks – spanning fresh popcorn to fair-style funnel cakes – and, while simplified under new ownership, still offers an array of sweet-and-salty sips and eats.

“A drive-in offers something that’s becoming harder to find – an experience people can enjoy together. It isn’t just about watching a movie,” Mitch, one of the Pettijohns' children, said. “It’s about making memories with family and friends.”

The soft opening weekend, June 19-21 (which showed Toy Story 5 and Backrooms on Stardust’s two screens), blew the Pettijohn family’s expectations out of the water. Per social media posts, community response was such that they had to cancel Sunday evening’s flicks to restock and gear up for the following weekend.

For returning Stardust patrons, the current screening structure is different: one movie per screen, per night; instead of the former two movies per screen, per night. That could change, Mitch said, as the Pettijohns settle into ownership and find their rhythm.

The line of cars awaiting entry to Stardust Drive-In Theater during its soft opening weekend in June stretched well into the forested path to the Chetek attraction.

Toy Story 5 and Backrooms were shown to a packed field during Stardust's soft opening weekend, June 19-21.

“When Mike and I set our sights on purchasing the Stardust Drive-In ... we know this was more than a typicacl real estate transaction. The Stardust isn't just a property – it's a piece of history,” Wendy shared online with Trillium Realty, which brokered the sale. 

Its official grand reopening weekend is tentatively slated for July, with more details yet to be nailed down and shared online. 

Keep up with the Stardust Drive-In Theater ((995 22nd St., Chetek) on Facebook and Instagram (a new website is coming soon) to see what's playing and more information. Entry to Stardust is $12/adult and $8/child.