The heightened option of watching a movie at home over in a movie theater could soon leave you with no choice. Regal Cinemas is closing 39 of its theaters across the U.S. The announcement comes after Regal Cinemas’ parent company, Cineworld filed bankruptcy in September.
These are the locations Regal Cinemas plans to close.
— IFT Network TV (@iftnetworktv) January 20, 2023
What Happened?
According to the bankruptcy filing , the theaters will be closed by mid-February. The closures are a part of the plan to shed major debt. Cineworld says closing these theaters will save the failing company $22 million annually. Cineworld says it businesses have been acutely impacted by the global spread of Covid. A decline in theater attendance, a disrupted film release and production schedule, and a rise in at home entertainment are to blame for the low revenue. Regal Cinemas is not entirely done. After these closures, 500 theaters will remain. Cineworld is working with the landlords of those remaining locations to keep them open.
Why
Regal Cinemas is the second largest theater chain in the U.S. so if it’s struggling to stay open, imagine other theater companies. Regal Cinemas’ struggle to stay afloat is a shared problem in the industry. A recent study shows movie theater attendance is far below historical norms. According to Gallup, Americans watched an average of 1.4 movies in a theater within one year. Sixty-one percent of people did not see a movie in a theater in 2021. Compare this to data collected from 2001 through 2007, when the average American watched 4.8 movies in a theater annually. During the 2001-2007 time frame, only 32% of people did not see a movie in a theater. The study does note that Covid is not the complete blame for the attendance decline at movie theaters. Numbers showed attendance declining before Covid because of the variety of streaming options. However, Covid did give a significant blow to the industry, which has made it hard to recover.
The future of movie theaters
What theaters can do to reel people back in is unknown now. The industry has tried different strategies, like certain movies only in theaters for a few weeks before heading to streaming and the choice to watch all movies you want for a monthly fee. The hard truth is this might be the beginning of the end. Streaming once wiped out stores like Blockbuster. Movie theaters becoming extinct might be the next result of streaming.
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