Regal Cinema prepares to close 39 movie theaters around US

Regal Cinemas is preparing to close 39 movie theaters around the U.S. in mid-February, according to a new document filed in bankruptcy court this week by its U.K. parent company Cineworld.

The filing says by rejecting the leases starting Feb. 15, “the Debtors estimate…. [it] will save their estates approximately $22 million annually.”

Cineworld, which filed for bankruptcy in September, wrote that its “businesses have been acutely impacted by the global spread of COVID-19 and its attendant consequences, including a decline in cinema attendance, a disrupted film release and production schedule, and a rise in at home entertainment alternatives.”

The 39 theaters set to close include Tikahtnu Stadium 16 IMAX & RPX, Anchorage, Berkeley 7, Berkeley, Parkway Plaza Stadium 18 & IMAX, Cajon, Metro Point, Costa Mesa, Escondido Stadium 16 & IMAX, Escondido, Hemet Cinema 12, Hemet, Sherman Oaks Galleria 16, Los Angeles, Yorba Linda & IMAX, Yorba Linda, Meadows Stadium 12, Littleton, SouthGlenn Stadium 14, Centennial, Shadowood 16, Boca Raton, South Beach Stadium 18 & IMAX, Miami, Keauhou Stadium 7, Kona, Bolingbrook Stadium 12, Bolingbrook, Round Lake Beach Stadium 18, Round Lake Beach, Brunswick 10, Brunswick, Bowie Stadium 14, Bowie, Rockville Center Stadium 13, Rockville and Fenway Stadium 13 & RPX, Boston.

Others include Omaha Stadium 16, Omaha, Village Square Stadium 18, Las Vegas, Concord 10, Concord, Hamilton Commons Stadium 14, Mays Landing, Santa Fe Stadium 14, Santa Fe, Elmwood Center 16, Buffalo, Ithaca Mall Stadium 14, Ithaca, Cortlandt Town Center, Mohegan Lake, Union Square Stadium 14, New York, Greece Ridge Stadium 12, Rochester, Transit Center Stadium 18 & IMAX, Williamsville, Beaver Creek Stadium 12, Apex, Montrose Movies Stadium 12, Akron, Barn Plaza Stadium 14, Doylestown, Oaks Stadium 24, Oaks, Stonefield Stadium 14 & IMAX, Charlottesville, Greenbrier Stadium 13, Chesapeake, Meridian 16, Seattle and Gallery Place Stadium 14, Washington, D.C.

Regal, as of April 2022, said it “operates one of the largest and most geographically diverse theater circuits in the United States, consisting of 6,787 screens in 505 theaters in 42 states along with American Samoa, the District of Columbia, Guam and Saipan.”