Cineworld Closes 12 Regal Cinemas Theaters After Bankruptcy Filing

Less than a month after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Regal Cinemas parent company Cineworld has closed a dozen U.S. theaters as part of a cost-cutting and restructuring plan. Most of the cinemas are reportedly aging buildings that would have needed work to get them caught up to the current standards of the rapidly-evolving cinema business, and at least one — located in Calabasas, California — may be bought up by Regal opponent AMC Theatres. All 12 of the closures were part of a batch of 20 leases that Cineworld had asked to cancel during their bankruptcy proceedings.

Per Deadline, who first reported the move, the closures include Anaheim Hills 14, Calabasas Stadium 6, Westpark 8 in the Los Angeles market; Crow Canyon Stadium 6 in the San Francisco area, the Broadway Faire in Fresno, CA; Richland Crossing Stadium in the Philly area, Parkway Plaza Stadium 12 in the Seattle-Tacoma market, Greenville Grande Stadium in North Carolina, Middleburg Town Square Stadium 16 in Cleveland-Akron, Sherwood Stadium 10 in Portland, OR, Colonnade Stadium 14 in Las Vegas, and the Amarillo Star Stadium 14 in Texas.

News of a bankruptcy filing hit back in August, with The Wall Street Journal also saying that in the United Kingdom (where Cineworld is based), they are considering filing for an insolvency proceeding. This is the latest in a series of serious issues for Cineworld, who avoided bankruptcy in 2020 because in the throes of the pandemic, creditors were a bit more understanding of the theater chain’s troubles.

AMC Theatres ended up getting an injection of cash from the internet, who turned the failing chain into a “meme stock” like Gamestop. Cineworld Chief Executive Mooky Greidinger told The Wall Street Journal that every company didn’t have the good fortune to be lifted out of trouble by the arbitrary whims of Reddit.

“I think what happened to them is a very good thing for AMC. And you know, we are traded in the U.K. market. Not every stock in the U.S. market is a meme stock. And I think that AMC did well with it,” Greidinger said, adding, “I don’t think that any industry wants to see one of the huge players of the industry falling down. This isn’t positive news for anyone.”

There is no word yet on whether the remaining 8 theater will remain open. It’s likely that will depend on whether they can renegotiate favorable terms with their landlords.