Regal and Cineworld Cinemas In US and UK to Close Back Up This Week
The film industry continues to be in dire straits with the news that the country’s second largest U.S. cinema chain may be making the move to close the theaters due to the ongoing pandemic and a lack of Hollywood releases. According to a piece on TheWrap.com, Cineworld announced on Monday the temporary suspension of 543 Regal Cinema locations in the US and an addition 127 theaters in the UK and Ireland. This suspension will go into effect beginning this Thursday (October 8, 2020).
In an official statement the company advised, “As major US. markets, mainly New York, remained closed and without guidance on reopening timing, studios have been reluctant to release their pipeline of new films.”It continues, “In turn, without these new releases, Cineworld cannot provide customers in both the U.S. and the U.K. — the company’s primary markets – with the breadth of strong commercial films necessary for them to consider coming back to theatres against the backdrop of COVID-19.”
Image: Disney & Pixar
Murmurings of a shutdown began over the weekend and the catalyst is believed to be the decision by MGM and Universal to push back the new James Bond film No Time To Die from an opening this November into Spring of 2021. That means the Disney/Pixar film Soul is the only major release expected to hit theaters in November but many insiders feel that moving this film is imminent.
Mooky Greidinger, CEO of Cineworld told the Wall Street Journal, “We are like a grocery shop that doesn’t have vegetables, fruit, meat.” He added, “We cannot operate for a long time without a product.”
Many movie theaters like AMC which has cinemas at both Disney Springs and Downtown Disney have tried to adapt in a COVID-19 world with safety protocols including capacity limits, empty seats between viewing parties, deep cleanings and updates to ventilation and air filtration systems. However, a lack of consumer confidence as well as an absence of new titles have meant that attempts to revive the box office is falling short.
Couple this with the fact that studios are using alternative measures to get their films out there (like Disney’s Mulan releasing on Disney+) and it’s easy to see why the industry is struggling. Tenet, for instance, which was the sole studio release to arrive in theaters this Fall grossed a meager $45 million at the box office after five weeks of screening in 2,900 theaters across the country.
With a predicted surge in Coronavirus cases this Winter and more big studios seeming intent on moving holiday releases including Wonder Woman 1984, The Croods: A New Age, Dune etc. the theaters are in a precarious position. It remains to be seen whether chains like CineWorld/Regal can weather the storm or if they’ll slip further into bankruptcy. This is a story we’ll continue to follow closely. Keep checking back with us for further news and updates!
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