Cineworld Confirms the Closure of its Regal Cinemas in the U.S., and All Cinemas in the U.K., in a Statement

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, Cineworld is closing all 536 of its Regal Cinema venues in the U.S. and all cinemas across the U.K. and Ireland this coming week.

Now, according to Variety, the group has provided a statement confirming the closures.

"In response to an increasingly challenging theatrical landscape and sustained key market closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cineworld confirms that it will be temporarily suspending operations at all of its 536 Regal theatres in the U.S. and its 127 Cineworld and Picturehouse theaters in the U.K. from Thursday, 8 October 2020," the statement reads.

The group cites the lack of new releases due to the health crisis as the reason for the closures.

"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 theaters against the backdrop of COVID-19," the statement says.

Cineworld CEO Mooky Greidinger says that it is not a decision they made lightly.

"We did everything in our power to support safe and sustainable re-openings in all of our markets - including meeting, and often exceeding, local health and safety guidelines in our theatres and working constructively with regulators and industry bodies to restore public confidence in our industry," he said.

Read more on Variety.

Regal is the second largest domestic chain in the U.S., and Cineworld is the U.K.'s biggest cinema operator. The Cineworld closures will put up to 5,500 jobs at risk in the U.K.

A reopening date has not been set, but cinemas could remain closed until 2021.

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